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Whitespire birch is wilting

16 years ago

Hi there, Last year, we purchased three 12 feet tall whitespire birches. They did pretty well last year. I try to get them a nice slow drink for an hour at a time each week, especially if it's dry.

This year, we had a hot spell and I didn't water like I should. A couple of weeks ago (after the hot spell), I did give the trees a drink. I'm not sure if it's related, but now one of the trees is starting to wilt. the other two trees have branches and twigs that extend upwards. The twigs and highest levels of the other tree are bending over.

I gave all the trees a good soaking today again. Any ideas on what's going on and how to fix it? Thanks!

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Comments (8)

Embothrium
16 years ago
It needed to be watered.
lamcon
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks bboy!

As a follow up, it actually looks worse tonight (watered it for an hour this morning). Is it just taking time to suck it up or is it possible somthing else is going on?
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most peeps with heavy clay.. actually plant above grade.. planting only about half the rootball .. and mounding the remainder .... you should find plenty of info in that regard .... once he dug that cauldron of clay.. you most likely did yourself no favors by adding a potting media high in peat.. which holds more water ... the problem with the cauldron is that there is no drainage ... and with the peat .... as noted previously.. too much water SEEMS to be suggested ... by mounding.. and covering with a high drainage soil .. you give the roots the air they need.. and allow the tree to put its roots where it needs them ... ken
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I've given these instructions about 10 times during the last week or so, but so far no one has used them. I thought they were simple, but I'm beginning to wonder why no one ever uses them after I type them out. If you have problems, PLEASE let me know so I can correct any errors or hard to follow parts. One of the easiest ways to provide your photo to be embedded into a post is to upload it onto an image hosting site such as Photobucket, Flickr, etc. That should be pretty straight forward, and the individual sites will give instructions on how to get your photos uploaded to their site when you sign up. Once your picture has been uploaded, find its web address by right clicking on the image and copying the image location. Some sites may even provide the address in a text box below the photo for your convenience. Let's say, as an example, that the address of the picture you want to post is http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg To embed the picture into a post, use the command img src="http://somepicturesite.com/yourpicture.jpg"> Note that I had to use special characters to get the command above to show up here without turning into a picture, but you can use it as shown (with the correct image location, of course).
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Embothrium
16 years ago
Dig around to make sure whole rooting area is moist, including original soil ball or root mass. Intact soil balls can dry out and resist moistening, coarse potting soil is apt to lose water to finer textured natural soil around it.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Myth of Fragile Roots
lamcon
Original Author
16 years ago
I went out tonight with a stake and poked holes under the mulch. I was routinely able to get a good 1.5 feet into the ground. A few places were a little tougher.

If I gave it a good drink yesterday, about how long can I expect before it starts to recover? Or should I soak it again, now that I have some extra holes poked in the ground?

Thanks!
Pamchesbay
16 years ago
Was the soil moist where you poked holes 1.5 feet into the ground?

It's not unusual to put down several gallons of water, feel the top few inches of soil which is moist, and assume that sufficient water went deeper where it is needed.

There is a tool that has been recommended on this forum that enables you to water the roots. It's called the ROSS Professional Root Feeder. I've not used it so I can't review it.

Pam
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
as the branches elongate ..... the tree naturally takes on a weeping appearance ....

the reason i know this.. is that i have to constantly prune up the branches so they don't interfere with mowing the lawn ... ken
Embothrium
16 years ago
Root feeders don't moisten much of the root area, sprinklers are much better.
lamcon
Original Author
16 years ago
Ken,

I'm starting to think that is the case. Looking at the trees, they've grown plenty of leaves and seeds. It seems logical that they are too heavy for the current branches. Between the two soakings I have them and the rain we had last night, it shouldn't be an issue of water any more...hopefully :)

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