Thanks brandon :) I am concerned about the decaying stump/roots attracting insects. Also, I found a few threads about whether these trees send up shoots, but I wasn't able to learn anything definitive. I did find one youtube video where they surrounded the stump with bricks and started it on fire. Um, not sure I want to do thatâ¦these are pretty close to the house, and even if they weren't so close, I think there must be a better way⦠As long as I have the tree removal people here, I'd like to do whatever is necessary to have the trees removed correctly. I just don't know what that is. I had retained the services of an arborist to take care of these trees, but somehow there was a mixup and the trees did not receive preventative treatment for some time. That resulted in spider mites and fungus. They have taken full responsibility and have amicably agreed to take down the trees. I don't want to be unreasonable about the stump/roots, so am trying to be as informed as possible. Thanks again!

and its probably being cooked by all the surrounding pavement ... the road.. the sidewalk ... the wall ... as such retains heat deep into the night .. why now.. who knows ... plus what bot said... the plastic if interfering with water to the roots ... heat plus water problems ='s death .... it is a goner.. IMHO ... and the next one isnt looking all that great either ... its off color ... i would not spend the next 3 to 5 years.. hoping it could recover ... i am presuming its right there.. where you are going to see it.. multiple times per day .... and that would irritate the heck out of me .... i would put it out of MY misery .... ken

This is a very typical problem and has come up a lot lately. I think this type of deterioration of a newly installed tree is most often a product of having a poorly grown product and /or having it improperly installed. Mulching a newly planted tree is really important. But you need to do it right. More often the worst possible practice is used. A wide (several feet) circular mound of mulch should be built around the planting area to try to create a well around the rootball so that more water will penetrate around the roots - before it drains away. That's a good idea in my opinion. But the exact opposite is more commonly used. There is no reason to mound up mulch right up to the trunk, like a giant anthill. I see landscapers do this all the time. I cannot imagine what purpose it serves. In fact, it's probably much, much worse than not mulching at all. Mulches (or soil) shouldn't ever touch the trunk of a tree!! They defintely should not touch 12 inches of trunk in a weird volcano shape. Tree trunks are not supposed to be suffocated or wet. That shold be common sense. Trees do not grow like that in nature. Trees should be installed so that you can see the trunk flare out right at the soil line. When fresh bark (the most common mulch) dries, it sheds water, it certainly doesn't direct it to the roots of the newly planted tree. A volcano of mulch will only keep water from getting where a newly planted tree's roots are. When I see trees mulched this way in shopping center parking lots, I'll sometimes kick the mulch away into the street to help out the idiot landscape company and prevent the needless death of a tree. No "professional" (for money) landscape work in my area is ever done "professionally" (in a responsible, workmanlike manner according to certain standards). People forget the word "profressional" is supposed to imply that certain standards are observed. When neighbors ask me about good nurseries or landscapers I can't tell them anything. No one does better work here than I do in my spare time as a hobby. I've said it before - but growing plants is a race to the bottom, lowest common denominator business -- and planting and selling them is too often the province of illegal immigrants who don't speak English, more less know the best practices of their trade. I'm not disparaging people who are just trying to earn an honest buck - but just pointing out they generally don't do their job well. What's worse is that people look to nurseries and landscape companies for advice - and both generally have very low standards and knowledge - at least at the employee level. Just my opinion.

what you should do.. is plant some new trees ... so when this one dies ... and it probably will .... you will have unaffected new plants.. well established ... trees do their thing in tree time.. and that is counted in years or decades ... they say a tree is twice as big below ground.. as that what we see above... if you significantly impaired half of its root mass ... well .. its going to suffer .. whether it will recover.. is left to fate.. and time ... it is stressed... not hungry .... no fert ... and really .. nothing else you can dream up ... there is not much you can do .... other than watering properly ... deeply and infrequently .. to try to regrow the root mass ... to offset the damage .... ken