Save My Beech

Hanselhoff

I need some help. I have a cluster of large beech trees. Two years ago, approximately 1/3 of the area under the tree was covered with about a foot of topsoil/fill (looking down from above, roughly from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock)

The other day, I noticed that the leaves are changing prematurely and there seems to be more nuts than usual on the 'effected' trees. Is my tree dying or will it recover? Will uncovering the roots save it or am I too late for that (2 years have passed since I covered the roots)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Brent Ferris

You can try and remove the soil, or you drill a whole pile of holes down thru the extra soil into the root zone below to allow for more aeration to the rooting system. Often times, in a stressful situation, a tree will put out more fruit if it is about to die.
Pre-matiure leaf drop could indicate this, or a droughty summer. THe excess fruit could be the stress, or it could be a result of the previous two years of having abundant water thru the growing season -- if you had that kind of weather. We did in Southern Ontario.

However, if your memory about the weather is hazy I would get out there tomorrow and start drilling holes. If you are on sand or clay add organic matter and liquid seaweed and bonemeal/bloodmeal/potash to the holes after drilling., If I were doing the job, I would use a rock drill/carbide tipped 1 1/4 to 2" diameter bit, on a 1 x 1 foot grid and drill down at least 18". Estimate the tree's diameter and multiply by 3. So a 20" diameter tree should have roots extending out 60 ft in all directions, so 1 x 1 foot grid 60 foot radius all around the tree. It is a lot of holes, but the technique usually works. Need a strong back, lots of focus, and a low geared drill, like a Hilti.

Good Luck!

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