Serviceberry trees - disease or soil deficiency?
aliciaandbilly
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Our Autumn Brilliance trees, planted about a year and a half ago are not looking very good this Spring. I'm thinking part of the problem may be rust, but maybe the discoloration of the leaf is something else?
Both trees are next to the street - we chose them due to their supposed salt tolerance. We're located just north of NYC and had a decent amount of snow this winter, so lots of plowing and salting of the roads.
Last Spring they had a good number of berries on them for their size/age. This year I could probably count the total number of berries on both hands. Our neighbor had two of the same tree planted this past Fall and her trees (also next to the street) are covered in berries.
We're trying to garden organically, so we didn't do any preventative/maintenance spraying treatments on the trees or the lawn.
Any help in identifying the issue would be greatly appreciated.
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Which trees (River Birch, Redbud, Dogwood, Serviceberry)?
Comments (5)I would get a nice clumpform paper birch. They are always more impressive as a clumpform and less apt to blow down in high wind. There are purple leaved varieties now as well, like Articfrost. These purple-leafed varieties are stunning when larger. The leaf color is similiar to a Crimson King maple but on a birch tree. Never plant a Norway maple. They are the most invasive plant of all hardwoods and they will dominate your lanscape after 10 years or so. Most nurseries will not sell them now because of this. The Amur maples are a smaller maple with an orange color in the Fall. Make sure not to buy the dwarf varieties as they stay rather small.I have two full size Amur maples and they are very hardy, and not too large. The true red or sugar maples are great trees and you could tap the sugar maple to make syrup after it is large enough. Most red and sugar maples are indeed, red in the fall but conditions and individual specimens can be lighter or darker. Oaks are very slow growing and not as red as some of the maples. Remember, clump-forms on the birches and they will offer you more shade and tree strength. A mixture of Serviceberries, Red or Sugar Maples, and birches will be impressive. If you plant in the early spring, keep an eye on The Weather Channel during the first season to watch for drought in the area....See MoreHealthy Soil - Disease
Comments (27)I haven't had it tested for awhile, but a couple of years into it (probably at least 10 yrs ago now) I had the garden and lawn soil tested. Everything came out very high in the garden as a result of the compost I was adding, but the lawn soil was deficient in P. This explained why the dwarf fruit trees were not blooming. I used bone meal and when I (occasionally - like every 2 years) fertilize the lawn I use 12-12-12 instead of 29-3-3 to boost up the P. It worked and now we get fruit. It was a former farm field so it was pretty worn out. The garden was pH 7 - 7.5 as I recall, and I discontinued putting ash into the compost because I was worried about it getting too high. I don't use much fertilizer on the garden but this year the peppers were so stunted that I put soluble 10-30-20 on them a couple weeks in a row and sprinkled some high N granular around them. They greened up nicely, grew very well for the last month or so and now are producing peppers despite the brutal heat. So I think the nearby tree roots are just robbing more nitrogen than I can put in there with my limited compost. I have friends who do much less tinkering and soil building and have much better gardens with less disease. You think I should have it tested again?...See MoreDisease/Deficiency?
Comments (6)As is the case with a number of fungal problems, there are many different types of anthracnose and they tend to be extremely plant-specific. So anthracnose that affects liriope (Colletotrichum sp.) is not the same strain of anthracnose that affects certain species of dogwoods (Discula sp.). Therefore, your decision in choosing a dogwood should not be determined by having a problem with your liriope :-) There are a number of wonderful dogwoods that are very resistant to anthracnose - any of the kousas, all the Rutgers hybrids, 'Eddie's White Wonder' and a recently developed cultivar of the very popular Eastern dogwood, Cornus florida 'Appalachian Spring'. You should have no problems with any of these. I'd also agree with Rhizo and wonder at the reasons behind the development of a lot of fungal problems. Generally that would indicate a situation that had poorly draining soil combined with excess or improper irrigation practices. Or it could be something as simple as the wrong plant for that particular spot. It's worth examining a bit more closely to see if some simple adjustments can be made that would relieve the problem....See MoreServiceberry tree?
Comments (5)Hi jbid! We have a multi-trunk amelanchier 'Autumn Brilliance' for 6 years now. It was planted by the landscaper at the NE corner of the house (new construction). Like you, we wanted trees and shrubs to attract birds and to offer interest in at least 3 seasons. In theory, the serviceberry fits the bill. It blooms in April on bare branches; the fruit ripens in June and is tasty; it turns an apricot color in fall; it has a nice multitrunk winter silhouette with smooth gray-bark. However it has disappointed in several ways. 1 - it is an understory tree probably planted in too much sun. Also we have a lot of wind which may be too much stress for the tree. 2 - As a result of the above stresses, it has had scale and black spot every year. Japanese beetles seem to like it very much but a climbing hydrangea planted nearby acts as a "trap". Lacebugs and mites cause the leaves to look pretty ratty by summer's end. 3 - Because of the pests and diseases, it hasn't shown much fall color after it's first autumn in the ground. 4 - We have bluebirds who nest in the yard every year; we also have robins and mockingbirds. The birds have shown little interest in the berries except this year we had a bumper crop of berries but the mockingbird decided that this was his/her tree and chased off any trespasser who showed interest. 5 - It suckers a lot. This has been my experience so far in our Central PA yard. There is a more mature serviceberry about 2 blocks from our home that is really lovely during the growing season and it doesn't appear to have many, if any, suckers. I'm hoping that ours is just a "gangly teenager" and will out grow its annoyances. Most folks on this site and others have much better experience than I have had. It may very well be that it's a matter of careful siting to have success. Good luck with you project. Pat...See More
aliciaandbilly
7 years agoaliciaandbilly
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoHere are more pictures. The soil in our tree lawn is pretty crappy - compacted, rocky (from snow plowing) and weedy. The trees were professionally planted by our landscaper though who did plenty of prep, so I don't think that's the problem. And even though one tree gets more shade than the other, they both appear to be exhibiting about the same amount of damage.
I did see a couple of ants on the one tree yesterday, but didn't see any aphids or other significant pest presence that would clearly indicate an insect causing the damage.
RugbyHukr
7 years agoaliciaandbilly
7 years ago
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