Dying Tree - Why is it dying? (see pic)

sally365

Hi,

I've only noticed my tree in the garden seems to be losing it's leafs pretty fast and turning brown.

Could someone tell me why this is happening? See pic below.

Just to note the neighbour has a chimney 6 meters away from the tree, would this cause issues?

Thanks,
Sally

baaba maal

Could it have been sprayed accidentally? It looks to me as if it is dying on one side, so maybe some "drift" of a weedkiller. Might be completely wrong and it may just be lack of water....

looksee

It appears t be more severely affected on your side of the boundary, and below wall level, so it is doubtful the chimney is the cause - is the chimney new? It does seem to be something that has drifted onto it, as the previous poster has said, but the spread is all the way up the tree so its hard to see what could have drifted like that.

I think you need to examine the branches a bit, have a look at that low one that seems to be most affected and see if the branch is dying - cut off a twig and see is it black/brown/shrivelled looking inside.

lazybones32

That's an unusual one: if it was dying from top down, it'd be a 'natural' death or if it was smoke damage, it would be more complete and the damage more obvious and localised. The yellow leaves are an indication that this is probably something either wrong with the tree itself or a soil problem.

Oldtree

not much to go on.

Is it a willow?
From the picture it looks like the left half of the tree (with the dieback) is a lighter shade of green than the right, is that correct?
Has any works been carried out on the other/this side of the fence/wall to the base of the tree?
Did the neighbour have the chimney going recently?
How far are you from the sea? (wind salt damage)
What is your prevailing wind direction?
Is the tree a bone of contention with your neighbour?
Are the branches with the dieback coming from stems that do not have dieback on other branches?

redser7

Is the chimney on the house or a workshop? You wouldn't expect a regular chimney to be in use at the moment. Perhaps there's some noxious stuff getting burned?

pwurple

Looks like only one limb has problems. Is there any damage visible at the base of that limb? A break in the bark? wind cracked it a bit, rabbit stripped bark back, some fungus?

sally365

Hi Guys,

I believe it's a willow tree.


Has any works been carried out on the other/this side of the fence/wall to the base of the tree? - They put on an extension about thats about 6 or 7 meters up on the left.

Did the neighbour have the chimney going recently?
- chimney doesn't be on that much really i guess.

How far are you from the sea? (wind salt damage)
- were in East Navan about 30mins from the sea.

What is your prevailing wind direction?
- jesus i don't know sorry

Is the tree a bone of contention with your neighbour?
It was planted on our side about 10years ago

Are the branches with the dieback coming from stems that do not have dieback on other branches?
The leafs are just turning yellow, i see no issue with the bark or branches, they aren't black or brown inside either

Thanks for the replies guys.

Oldtree

It is very difficult to diagnose from a distance. Willows do get a bit hard hit here in summer, you can see it in the wild willows too. If it is just the leaves that have been damaged then the tree should recover. If it has been damaged in some other way it may recover or die. either way I think it is wait and watch I don't think there is anything that you can do. I would hesitate to prune any of it as it has a nice shape until you know that any specific branch is dead.