Young Trees Possibly Alive - Worth Saving?

15 years ago

Hello,

In the spring of 2007 I acquired about 50 trees from my local conservation district. These trees were mostly birch, maple, and oak; each being no taller than 36 inches. After planting, I watered these trees regularly, and they all looked beautiful until fall.

When this spring rolled around I noticed that none of these trees had any buds on them. Around Memorial weekend I had determined that for some unknown reason, all 50 of them had died; the trunks were dry, and the branches would just snap off. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that new shoots were coming up from the bottoms of all the trees. So, these trees that were 36 inches tall, are now about ten.

Are these trees worth saving, or should I expect them to die down to ground level each year? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again?

Thank you in advance for your help!

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Comments (6)

Iris GW
15 years ago
I don't think they will do this every year. I think they were stressed and finally got enough energy to sprout from the roots.

That is assuming that these trees are all perfectly hardy and suitable for your area (and I would expect your conservation district would only provide such kinds).
santi_rodriguez
15 years ago
What are your winter temperatures? maybe they were killed by frost? Just guessing here, I've never heard of 50 sapling just dying, maybe they were too tender to survive the winter. If they are coming back then they are definitely worth saving, should it be the case of cold damage, you can protect them against the frost during the winter, eventualy all the trees you mentioned grow to be frost hardy.

If you don't get low winter temperatures then I can't help you.

Hope this helped

Santi
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Due to picture fuzziness and/or lighting, I can't really tell much about the condition of each stem. I can barely see what I think may be the de-barked area you mention, but I'm not sure. A healthy-to-start-with magnolia should experience minimal transplant shock when planted out. The fact that "several of the main stems" appear dead is a sign of something besides normal transplant issues. Do you know if your magnolia is grafted? I don't see any signs of a graft union, so hopefully it's not. If it is, the graft union may be buried below grade. This brings up another issue...how deep is your tree planted? Did you identify the root-flare before planting? Magnolias can be pretty forgiving of improper planting depth, but, combined with improper watering and/or amended/altered soil structure, improper planting depth could be detrimental. Also, burying a graft (if any) would probably not be a good idea in this case. Also, I noticed that you said you continue to water and feed it. Can you describe how you determine when it needs to be watered? Are you testing for soil moisture around AND in the rootball, or, are you confident in your ability to determine soil moisture at root level? What is your watering regime like? Next WHY are you fertilizing ("feeding") it? Just looking at your soil and other vegetation, I wouldn't guess that it needed any fertilization. Improper fertilization is a big problem with landscape trees and shrubs! Did you have a soil test done or have any valid reason for fertilizing? I wrote most of this before Gardengal posted, so sorry for any repeats. I have more questions, but we'll start with these.
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What Mike suggest is exactly what I would do.lol Of course I have a weak spot when it comes to sparing sick plants of their demise. For some reason, it makes me feel good that I can handle such a feat. It's funny about me, but when I see a plant for sale that looks like h*ll, I tend to grab it and find myself having a good time bringing it back from such an aweful state. call me crazy if you would like. You certainly have to have the patience to accomplish such a feat and the know how. The know how will come from being a part of this forum along with persistence in learning. The patience, well, not everyone is up to that. The fact that you have green cambium tells me there is hope, that is if you are willing to look at such an ugly/ oops,cute tree if so that is what you choose to think of it.:-) Please make sure that mix is coarse enough to allow proper drainage and encourage much new root growth. Provide LOTS of sunlight and NO fertilizer until you see its first sign of growth. Make sure the mix you choose dries out evenly and rapidly. Mike:-)
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ryan_tree
15 years ago
SAVE THEM. I'm sure they will be fine....
calliope
15 years ago
I think she is saying zone five. I sure would be tempted to give them a fighting chance. I've had more than a few young trees come back from the crowns, after insults and be just fine.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
the soil conservation district should have ONLY sold zone appropriate stock ....

lack of water .. deep watering.. after planting ... and very late into the fall MIGHT have been the problem ...

or improper hardening of last fall due to fertilizing at planting...

or spring freeze thaws ...

or improper handling upon receipt from the SCDist ...

frankly ... too many variables to actually explain why this happened...

none of the plants are grafted.. so what comes out of the ground is true to name...

i dont know why you would give up on the investment.. if they are now growing...

ken
Pamchesbay
15 years ago
ming -

I agree with esh_ga - since your seedlings are putting out new growth, I think they will be fine.

In March, I planted approximately 1,100 seedlings in a reforestation project. Some did not leaf out from the trunk, but sprouted from the roots as you describe. In some cases, two or three branches (new "trunks"?) sprouted from the base of the old trunk. Others were browsed by deer who bit off the tops, so they put out new growth from the lower trunk or roots.

The most important news is that your seedlings are alive, putting out new growth, and are apparently healthy. If you think about it, let us know what happens next spring.

Pam

Young Trees Possibly Alive - Worth Saving?

Comments (6)

Iris GW

santi_rodriguez

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