what would cause a gum tree to die

tjreid

A neighbour has a gum tree in his back yard that looks like it is dying.

We live 200 metres from Moreton Bay in QLD and the land would be no more than 2 metres above sea level.

I have tried to convince him that the tree has probably hit the water table and that it may be salt problem that is causing the tree to be un-healthy.

Can anyone confirm my theory?

My understanding is that the gum tree is not a native to this area and trees like Manrgoves and Paperbark would most likely be the original native trees.

thanks for any advice.

Regards

Trevor

Eric Frei

I discount your theory.

How big was the tree? It must have done OK to get as large as it did (whatever that is).

There may have been inundation of salty water to the existing roots, or foul play, or other factors not mentioned or investigated.

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tjreid

Thanks for your quick reply.

The tree is around 12-15 metres high and has just recently flowered however there are a lot of leaves falling and some of them seem to turning a slightly brown colour.

There is a salt water pool about five metres away, but I'm sure that this is not causing the problem.

the only other visible thing is that there is a lot os sap coming out of the tree which about 2 metres from ground level.

There are no signs of fowl play, what should we look for?

Garry Brockley

when was the pool put in as your usual builder will sever roots and bury the evidence so there is one potential problem.

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tjreid

The pool has been in for 3 years. There are no visible signs of leaks.

Another thing that I forgot mention is that the tree is about 2 metres from a mains sewerage pipe,

Ttevor

Garry Brockley

Leaks aren't the problem! if the pool went in 3 years ago i would say that area needs investigating, trees live and die in a slower way compared to mammals, if major roots were cut it has the effect of cutting off a large stored food scource and stopping the tree from uptaking more water and nutrients from those roots,
so instead of say uptaking 1000 litres per day if you cut off 50% of the roots on one side it will only be able to absorb 500 litres per day when it needs 1000litres to survive and not be able to re-stock its larder, also when the roots were cut they will have more than likely become infected from pathogens this attacks the tree from within and just when the tree needs all of it's stores to fight infection it only has 50% so over a few years it dies.

So do you see how it happens?

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Eric Frei

Pictures of this.

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newguy18

i know of on thing that will definatly kill a gum tree,..................................















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a chainsaw.

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old schooler

gkn

a lot of sap coming out of the tree ??? honestly , that should give you an idea , how ever with out pics ? , its a borer , longicorn etc , is it a flowering red gum we need pics