Tree Help

koumi

Following my last post here which advised I remove sycamore sapling, this is almost like tree karma. I have a weeping silver birch, I have always loved this tree and it has been fine and healthy and beautiful for the last nine or ten years since it was planted in a reasonably shady corner of the garden. I started noticing some leaf fall recently and today I realised it's more than just a little shedding of a few leaves and the entire tree appears to look diseased.

I took a few photos just in case anyone can identify the problem, and which might be able to give an idea of the environment the tree lives in. My garden is on an incline and the area it is planted in wouldn't have a great depth relatively speaking, initially I wondered if it was just in need of watering but the ground there is usually pretty damp as it sits under the shade of an eight foot wall.

The garden is south facing so does get some extreme heat and as the tree has grown past the height of the wall which would normally have given it some shade from direct exposure, I'm wondering if it is just a matter of getting burnt.

Thirdly, the vegetation around it is minimal but I had planted honeysuckle against the boundary wall at the same time the tree went in. I removed most of it two years ago, root ball and all and couldn't get the last root that sits behind the tree out and naturally it started to shoot up again but is trained up the wall itself rather than affecting the tree directly. I know it can be invasive and without management can strangle good trees but like I said, everything had been cut back and removed two years ago and the current vines are growing up a trellis away from the main branches so there's little if any mingling between them. There were some dead small branches which I cut away this spring that were wrapped in dry vine after the initial clearing but none of which were significant and mostly just twig like stems.

so, I'm looking at the leaves and they look very blotched and spotted, dry and dead. The foliage has thinned out a whole lot and looks sickly. I'm hoping it's something that can be treated because there hasn't been a day when I haven't stepped out into the garden and marveled at the sight of that tree and would miss it a lot.

(I gave it a little water today and I don't have any outdoor food but I threw down some dry indoor plant stuff that I found in a cupboard but that's all I've got at the minute)

looksee

Its difficult to tell from the pics, but it doesn't look so much diseased as stressed. The shade should be ok, but beside a wall like that can be dry. Silver birches are fairly shallow rooted but the roots spread and it is a little restricted there. I really can't suggest anything more than you are doing - give it lots of water and hope for the best. Soak the surrounding area rather than up against the trunk.

lottpaul

I agree with Looksee -- it needs water more than food I'd say. A question though -- there seems to be damage to the bark near the base of the tree in the treetree pic? Any idea what happened - or it may just be on my eyes

koumi

Thanks, sigh of relief here. It is an odd shaped garden and I know it looks restricted but there is more earth at a higher level beneath the deck adjacent to it. The garden is sloped toward that end so it usually gets most of the run off from the higher ground. It's never been a problem before but I imagine as the tree matures it will probably be thirstier than when it was young. The leaves were grand and plentiful in early spring, vibrantly green as they are when they are new so I didn't suspect there was any kind of issue then. It all just looks wrong at the minute.

Not sure about the marks lottpaul, I did notice that in the pictures myself but didn't see anything remarkable in the flesh so to speak. I will admit I have passed a strimmer over the area a couple of times this year, I normally wouldn't bother because it's one of the dogs more favourite spots and doesn't get much of a chance to get any growth in. Could have passed a bit too close. I'll definitely keep it in check though. Thanks for the feedback.