Japanese Walnut

thesiawolf

Hello. HELP! I have a sick Japanese walnut tree. It has been like this for several years. It starts out good in the spring, but by this time of year leaves are turning yellow and falling off like it was fall. There are dead limbs from previous years and new growth seems to be in clumps. Can't seem to upload pictures.

thesiawolf

These are the pictures... got 'em to work.

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treeshaveneeds

The clumpy foliage suggests the tree has enough water with spring runoff, but as the year progresses can't get enough water, lets some branches die, some leaf fall off, if a droughty year more leaves fall off - sounds like root strangulation. May be correctable. Need pics of base of tree - all sides and surrounding soil. Any idea what kind of soil?

thesiawolf

Soil is sand.

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treeshaveneeds

The base of the tree does not appear to flare as much as I would expect a tree of this diameter to flare., Strongly suggests root strangulation or possibly excessive raising of the grade, Sand isn't usually a problem on its own, unless a perched water table (imperfect drainage) is also creating a problem.

Root strangulation can be corrected, but it is a really tedious job -- and not many arborists will tackle it. A perched water table may be correctable, it would depend on the depth of soil that is creating the problem.

One of the articles on the web suggests that

"The Japanese walnut seems to thrive on many soil types ranging from a heavy clay to a light sand, but does best on what is popularly known as a well drained fertile sandy loam with a friable clay subsoil. lt will not do well on strongly acid soils and those who have planted trees on such soils should apply lime in liberal quantities. Poorly drained soils or very light soils deficient in humus are also not suitable."
See the following info

Some notes on the Japanese Walnut in North America -- sorry, haven't figured out how to post a link yet.