Eastern Redbud - Cause: Sections of tree suddenly appear dead?

12 years ago

Hello,

I have an Eastern Redbud that is approximately 5 years old. We have noticed this past year during the typical growth season, that a few branches no longer carried leaves. Now, here we are in Illinois and in spring, and those same branches are now bare of flowers. Approximately 3/4 of the tree however, is blooming with flowers and looks healthy. I have read various articles on your site regarding common diseases to the redbud. The only noticable sign of anything, is that I see what appears to be a slight moss growing in the crotch of the branches. Otherwise, I do not see any signs of bugs. I will also add that this tree does reside curbside to our street in front of the house, where it is planted between the road side curb and sidewalk. I could also send a photo of the tree if it would help in identifying the reason for the two main branches being (what appears) to be dead. We are uncertain as to what to do. Does the tree need a treatment of sorts or should the fairly large branches be cut out?

Thank you for whatever insight you may be able to provide.

Sincerely,

MEtten

Featured Answer

arktrees

12 years ago

Actually being native more often means there are many pathogens/insects, but frequently they co-evolved and in kind of a co-existance. A good parasite doesn't serious damage it's host, otherwise it has no place to live. Oaks have many many insects/pathogens, but they are so finally attuned to one another, that they only rarely become problematic. Only after some stress i.e. drought.

As for Redbuds the canker is Botryosphaeria canker. There are other potential problems including borers. See link below.

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: Redbud tree pests

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

hortster
12 years ago
A picture would help. My redbuds shed older, interior branches that have become the most shaded by exterior foliage and/or other trees. Removed several larger branches already this spring. If the dead branches are in sunnier locations on the exterior parts of the tree it is likely something else.
hortster
arktrees
12 years ago
Remove those branches, and then cut through the crotch angles. There is a canker that attacks redbuds at the joint of branches. It infects the wood turning it black. Our Redbud had a branch that the leaves turned yellow early, I went from where this branch split off, then tacked back to the next branch joint and removed it. I then split open the branch joint where the yellowing branch was connected, and it was filled with the black fungal mass. This canker is favored by hot dry years that stress the Redbud. In short, last summer for much of the country. Definitely check for this problem.

Arktrees
Related Discussions
Help - bark splitting Little Gem Magnolia + Redbud
Q
Comments (8)
Sorry about the out-of-focus photos ;-( I tried to retake them but fear that only this one, of the magnolia, has come out clear enough. Luckily (if one can call it that) the lesions on both the redbud and magnolia look exactly the same. The damaged section in this photo is about two inches long and there's a smaller one on a skinny twig/limb next to it that you can also sort of see. Both about 5 feet up on my 6+ foot Little Gem. Ken, the Little Gem was purchased at Home Depot last year and the Forest Pansy came from an independent nursery and both were lugged home in my Subaru Forester. Neither have had any "mechanical" damage that I can think of. When I first noticed the problem, the swollen cracked part felt a little soft and moist but it's since hardened off. And as I mentioned in the original post, there is new growth above the lesions on both trees. Fingers crossed someone here can enlighten me on what's happening... Thanks.
...See More
Eastern Redbud
Q
Comments (14)
Go to the non-leaved portion of the tree, and try to bend a small branch. If it breaks, it's dead. Redbud are notorius in my experience for having trouble when transplanted. Was the original tree in a pot, or balled and burlaped, or bareroot. They often dieback, but the "good part" is that they'll resprout from roots. Was this a "general/generic" redbud or a special cultivar (there are now cultivars that show red or yellow coloring on the new growth or varigated leaves or have differences in their flowers). If it was a special cultivar, it was likely grafted and you now have a "generic" redbud. If you were only planting a regular/generic redbud do the following: Find out if there is any growth from the original trunk. If there is no growth in the original trunk, use and handsaw and cut off at the ground. If the growth from the original trunk is alive but weak (and this is not a special cultivar [see paragraph above]), I'd do the same thing. Then decide the following: Do you want a single trunk'd tree or a multi-trunked tree? If single remove all but the strongest stem. If multi-trunked leave the three strongest and remove the rest. It should do fine. I did know one tree that died to the ground twice before hitting its stride, but it will eventually reward you with a great tree.
...See More
What about a redbud as the new hosta tree?
Q
Comments (45)
djwfrk: Not at all. I actually enjoy working with ESL kids at school, many of them from Hispanic countries. I have told the "landscape workers" in Spanish (because they speak no English) not to break my garden fences, to no avail. They can't even read Spanish. I am virtually in tears about the latest destruction to the Adirondack fencing around my hosta garden. Several sections are lying on the ground all torn to pieces, like garbage, and the protective foam tubing I placed on top is ripped to shreds by these ignoramuses. It looks like a city dump, thanks to them, at $5-6/section! They have also knocked down quite a few of my plant markers. I am forever having to retrieve the plant markers from the ground and put them back on their supports. I have spent backbreaking labor and funds for patching compound repairing the really nice faux stone garden edging that they busted ugly holes in. These guys are knowledgeable landscape workers like I'm six feet tall (I am, in fact, 5'2"). They do not seem to have much knowledge about gardening at all, just how to flail about with weed-whackers and blowers. Their mowing is laughable. Also, I see a different crew each time. There are places in this area where it is well known that illegals congregate to pick up day labor jobs. Many contractors, like landscape companies, go over in the morning to these places to pick up workers for the day. The illegals are happy to work for minimum pay because they are limited in what jobs they can obtain. So the quality of work is about on a par with absolute amateurs, because in effect, that's exactly what they are. And the co-op couldn't care less. They are penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to landscaping. They could care less if my fencing gets ripped up, plants get trampled, etc. Here is an article from a local Queens news source: Day laborers busted on 69th Street The police arrested 10 immigrants on Tuesday on charges that they blocked a sidewalk at a popular gathering place for day laborers in Jackson Heights, Queens, the chief spokesman of the Police Department said. The arrests came in response to repeated calls from neighborhood residents complaining about the laborers "most of them undocumented" who congregate every day at the intersection of Broadway, 37th Avenue and 69th Street, said the spokesman, Paul J. Browne. “Police responded to community complaints about them blocking the sidewalk and congregating,” Mr. Browne said, adding that there were 50 to 60 workers at the location on Tuesday morning before the arrests. “We responded and asked them to disperse,” Mr. Brown said. “All but 10 of them did.” _______________________ There is little doubt, based on what I've seen and my conversations with them, that these "landscape workers" are undocumented aliens. So, I have spent endless hours researching, planning, buying materials, digging, hauling heavy bags of soil and mulch, planting, watering, weeding, etc. so that these "landscape workers" can come and lay waste to all my efforts. I'm sure you would love them, too, if you could but see the latest damage. Life in the big city.
...See More
Problem With My Redbud Tree
Q
Comments (64)
Loss of Red bud/ last year i purchase a beautiful tree. It had slight damage about a foot up the trunk, when i bought it. It grew beautifully and displayed flowerd in the spring that were beautiful. I was delighted as it was thr memorail tree i purchaed to remember my sister who died last year. A few weeks ago, with just a slight wind, the tree was felled. It was so upsetting to see that beautiful tree on the ground, with it’s heart shaped flowers acting as if nothing happened. They did not shrivel up even three days later. I tried in vain to figure out how to raise the tree and tape or somehow attach the trunk back. In the end i had no choice but ti cut the tree below the damaged trunk. It is now growing little branches, one week later. Will this grow into tree or a bush? Does anyone know how i would care for this tree? I would like to save it.
...See More
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
no pic.. no opinion ...

but if a branch is dead.. no need to leave it there ...

i am aware of no disease nor bugs that would do this to a redbud .. they are native in many places ... meaning .. generally.. they just dont have these kinds of problems ...

but w/o a pic... i cant go any further ...

ken

ps: thats a lot to say.. for starting that i had nothing to say.. lol ..
Sara Malone Zone 9b
12 years ago
Redbuds (Cercis) are susceptible to Verticillium wilt, a fungal disease, and that is what your problem sounds like. I don't know where you are - I've supplied a link to a site of the University of Illinois with an explanation of the disease (and listing redbud as one of the susceptible plants). You can Google with your region/locale and see if you get something closer to you. I have had many redbuds over the last 20 years and have lost maybe 3-4 to V. Once it has hit a tree I have felt that I was fighting a rearguard action to save it. I tried hard on the first one or two, and after that I just took the tree out as soon as it was clear that it had V. The best defense is a good offense: plant the tree in the right place, give it what it needs and try to prevent abiotic problems such as lawnmower injury, etc. There are V. resistant tomatoes but I am not aware of any V. resistant Cercis/redbuds. Anyone know of any?

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Illinois - Verticillium Wilt
MEtten
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Everyone,

First thank you for your comments and helpfulness. I have numerous pictures but at the present moment, I am uncertain as to how to post them...smiles.

I have clipped a few edges to see if there were any green left to them and from the tips I would say no. As mentioned, right now, these two large branches do not have any flowers on them and look dead in appearance. If fact, I just spoke to a gentleman who sold me the tree a few years back and he was saying that the winters here in Illinois have been very bad on the Redbuds in fact to the point of him no longer carrying them due to all the one year guarantees he had lost. Smiles.

This tree only has about 6 main branches and if I cut out the two, I have a feeling, it may then be best to cut the whole tree out given that it is not that big and all the diseases this tree is suseptible to.

Right now, I am thinking of possibly a Kousa Dogwood given that I do not want something too large given that it will be situated next to a sidewalk. I would like something with decorative flowering and the possibly a maroon leaf during the year. Again, I am in Illinois.

Thanks,

MEtten
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
12 years ago
Here's the New England forum's guide to posting photos on GW.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to post a photo
MEtten
Original Author
12 years ago
Case closed - smiles. After reading everyone's reviews and conducting considerable research (and speaking to a tree expert retailer near us), my wife and I sadly decided to pull the tree this weekend given the many problems in our area the Redbud's have had.

Thank you again, truly, to all those Fellow Tree Lovers and Caretakers for all of your helpful insight and suggestions.

Sincerely,

MEtten
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
well good for you .. problem solved.. in one of my favorite methods ...

now.. as to the disease prognostications ...

how zone dependent are these ...

seriously.. i have hundreds of self sown seedlings all over the yard .... and the county is covered in them.. and i am just having a hard time .. thinking these things are some how foo foo ...

if it makes a difference.. i am in in SE MI.. just above toledo ... south of ann arbor ...

ken
MEtten
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Ken,

Just a note to add...

My original liking and reasoning that we attempted to grow this redbud in the first place was that my wife's late grandfather who lived in Southern Illinois (where once again, it is a bit warmer than by us in Northern Illinois) had grown them successfully over the years. As mentioned, it was after we spoke to a tree retailer in our hometown who mentioned that our zone in Northeastern Illinois, was not tending favorable to Redbud's and he had stopped selling them due to all the returns (within the one year return guarantee period). Just an FYI...I really become suspect when I read a lengthy article that said (after the fact of us planting it) they should not be planted near roadways/streets due to their extreme disease suseptibility.

Hopefully, others here, will share their unbiased and objective opinions to help you also, along the way. The conditions may be different there for you and I am hoping so.

Good luck with them Ken and I'm "rootin'" (smiles) for you ! Take Care !

MEtten
MEtten
Original Author
12 years ago
P.S. - From the research I had conducted, they are supposed to be environmentally friendly for those living in Zones 4 thru 9 which would include both Illinois and Michigan.

MEtten

Eastern Redbud - Cause: Sections of tree suddenly appear dead?

arktrees

Comments (11)

hortster

arktrees

Related Discussions

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sara Malone Zone 9b

MEtten
Original Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

MEtten
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

MEtten
Original Author

MEtten
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Eastern Redbud - Cause: Sections of tree suddenly appear dead?

arktrees

Comments (11)

hortster

arktrees

Related Discussions

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sara Malone Zone 9b

MEttenOriginal Author

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

MEttenOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

MEttenOriginal Author

MEttenOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

MEtten
Original Author

MEtten
Original Author

MEtten
Original Author

MEtten
Original Author