What is killing my tree?

moonchild226

Can anyone tell by looking at this picture what may be killing my tree and how i can save it? I havent been able to see any bugs on it or anything. The tree is in Savannah, Georgia. THANKS!!!

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Brent Ferris

It looks a lot like a poplar, but need a better picture of leaves -- ie all in focus, and if possible a pic of whole plant.

moonchild226

The tree is a White Dogwood. I will try to get a better picture of the leaves.

THANKS!

moonchild226

here are two new pictures of the leaves. hope these are better. Again, thanks for trying to help!

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windthrown

White dogwood is another common name for flowering or white flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). There are many dogwood diseases that cause leaf spotting on them. Here is a good writeup on flowering dogwood diseases at the University of Kentuky:

ID-67: The Flowering Dogwood

Victor Lindsay

Disease can be hard to id sometimes. The best thing to do is send a sample to your extension. Thier lab will positivly id the disease and you can treat and maybe make cultural changes that will prevent it from happening again. Or you can guess.

Brent Ferris

I agree. Id'ing disease can be very difficult. But Flowering dogwood generally needs a protected location - from both wind and sun. And although there is no picture of the whole plant in its environment, it does appear to be in a sunny spot, and the grass looks robust --- suggesting the plant is in a windy, sunny location. The apparent necrosis on the leaves suggests strong scorching. If these guesses are right, the best thing would be to move the plant to a more sheltered location, hopefully with humus-y soil, and water it well. If it is a serious disease, and the plant is young, it is unlikely to survive.

Eric Frei

To me that lawn/grass seems sparse and patchy .... over here it would either be lawn grubs a mildew/fungi like dollar spot etc.

I suspect the tree is copping a double whammy of poor environmental conditions and culture then any disease can get the upper hand.

Think about the conditions that make mould/mildew/fungi thrive and consider if those conditions have been around.

Think about the soil pH, type of soil, moisture levels, soil biology .... like how "healthy" is that soil near that tree? I cannot see mulch around the tree for instance.

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Brent Ferris

Thanks for bringing up the patchiness in the grass Ekka - i stand corrected.

Victor Lindsay

I concur with Ekka, that the necrosis is a secondary problem. I believe you should find out what it is, treat, and then make cultural change.