What is wrong with this tree? How can I help it?

3 years ago

This is a ornamental plum tree with what seems to be a dry dead section. Bought house 1 year ago and seems to maybe getting worse. What is the cause? How can I help the tree?

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Comments (5)

FrozeBudd_z3/4
3 years ago
With the damage and decay so advanced, it now really doesn't matter for the reason and although the tree might live several more years, it's definitely on it's way out sorry to say!
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
3 years ago
I agree with Frozebudd - Unfortunately that tree really needs to be replaced. But at least, you can think about replacing it with something you really love and taking good care of it for a long life.
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Please, I need your help! What is wrong with my tree?
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Comments (8)
It's up to you if you want to keep it shorter or let it to to 10 + feet. But yes, definitely cut out all dead tissue back to good wood--you will know. (Your Aucuba still has enough foliage to recuperate.) By the way, if you think the particular site you have it is not good, you might be able to transplant it. Mine went through several transplants from house to house, site to site, until it reached it's final position. Looked for a place protected from subarctic winds, blazing sun, hungry deer which LOVE it, etc.. Found a location on the northwestern corner of the house, protected and watered by the outdoor shower area. I trim the bottom to keep the deer away and now they can't reach the foliage--even looks 'treelike'! Looks terrific now several years later but you should have seen it before I last moved it, with foliage sun burned from Winter sun, deer eaten and then the rot setting it. It started to recover almost immediately! I would say, here at least, they appreciate some protection from cold (and hot) winds, strong sun, adequate moisture and good ventilation. If per chance it does not make it, don't beat yourself up over it. Go out and buy another. Love these shrubs! Good luck! P.S., some sites advocate raised beds for Aucuba to facilitate drainage. Might be an advantage in Vancouver's chilly, wet Winter. --Here the winters can be much colder but lots of sun too so maybe that helps with drying out in the cold season.
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Please help: What's wrong with my knock-out and how do I fix it?
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Comments (1)
I'd guess your rose bushes have been visited by the same rose slugs (sawfly larvae) that tend to attack rose bushes every late spring/early summer. This is usually a temporary problem--then the good predator bugs come along and gobble up the rose slugs, and there is no more problem. However, the bush is often left with ugly damaged leaves. I would just pluck off the worst looking ones, and then wait patiently for the bush to produce new leaves (followed by buds and then blooms). In the future, it would help if you checked the bushes in the late spring/early summer for tiny, tiny green wormlike things--usually on the underside of the leaves. When they are present, squish them. That will keep them somewhat under control until the good predator bugs arrive a couple weeks later. As for the not flowering well problem, that is just part of the normal bloom cycle of any rose. A rose blooms for a couple weeks, then the blooms deteriorate (turn brown) and fall off, then the bush rests and renews itself, then it starts blooming again. Most roses go through several bloom cycles per season. When the blooms deteriorate, the bush will look better if you deadhead it (pick of the brown old blooms). Deadheading sometimes encourages the bush to begin blooming sooner also. Hope that helps. Kate
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Help! My clementine tree is yellowing...what am I doing wrong?!
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Comments (5)
Very common this time of year. Just old leaves being discarded by the tree, which signals the beginning of a new growth flush. When old leaves are no longer capable of producing their quota of photosythates, they are discarded by the tree. Citrus trees provides no welfare program for those that can't keep up. - Silica
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What is wrong with these bay laurel bushes and how can I help them?
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Comments (8)
Thanks everyone. We are in Hungary. It was a cold winter, but not much snow. It does get below freezing on some nights, even recently. A lot of wind comes through on this part of the garden. The last month, maybe two, there hadn't been any rain. The shrubs ( Prunus laurocerasus ) looked so bad that I thought water might be needed. It only rained after we started a water schedule. I'm glad to hear that probably there is no problem. We'll just wait, and perhaps snip some of the leaves later for aesthetic reasons if they don't fall off, and have a regular water schedule, adjusting it depending on conditions.
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krnuttle
3 years ago
I agree it need to be replaced. When we moved into this house 10 years ago there was one nice maple that had beautiful fall foliage. Unfortunate nearly the bark was missing for about a foot for about half the diameter. I did everything I could to save the tree, and the bark seemed to be covering the wound as it grew. It never added more that a couple of feet to its height. After about 8 years it finally started to die and had to cut it down.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
3 years ago
Believe me, if we thought you could do something to save that tree, I'm sure someone would have come up with an idea, but as krnuttle has shared her experience when a tree is damaged too much, efforts to try to save it, are just a delay and the next thing you know 8 years have gone by and you could have had a nice new tree established and giving you pleasure.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
cut it to about 3 feet.. and start digging out the roots ... you use the 3 foot part to rock it back and forth while digging ... .. you can probably use the truck method also ...

and replant something new.. or maybe 2 ...

there is nothing to be done to help this tree

call miss dig in case there are any utilities under it ...

once the heartwood starts rotting.. then you have no interior structure left.. and there is no 'healing' or fixing that ...

ken

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What is wrong with this tree? How can I help it?

Comments (5)

FrozeBudd_z3/4

prairiemoon2 z6b MA

Related Discussions

krnuttle

prairiemoon2 z6b MA

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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