help with Eastern Redbud

[stymie]

I am looking for a little help. I have a 6 year old eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) that has had 6 great years of growth. While it flowered this spring very nicely it is now rapidly dying off. I have no idea why. The leaves look as if the tree hasn't seen water in months- obviously, since I'm in southern CT... it has seen plenty of rain this year. One thing I have noticed is that the bark has been peeling off in big strips (see pics below).

I have a couple of ideas but want to pass them by the forum.

1. It ran into ledge below the root ball and can't get enough nourishment. Very possible where this tree is located.
2. Disease
3. Soil too compacted.

I have given it hollytone in early spring and late fall every year (about a cup per time) and have watered it during drought. This is a very beautiful tree and I'm sad to see it go. So before I spent a bunch of money on another redbud I thought I would ask you guys...

any thoughts?

Stymie

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8599/img23327gr.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2585/img23265ns.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6488/img23275zp.jpg

[NCSULandscaper]

its planted and burried in mulch way too deep, most likely the trunk is starting to decay and declining the health of the tree.......you may can save it by removing the mulch next to the trunk and finding the root flare.

[stymie]

Originally posted by NCSULandscaper
its planted and burried in mulch way too deep, most likely the trunk is starting to decay and declining the health of the tree.......you may can save it by removing the mulch next to the trunk and finding the root flare.

OK thanks... I went out and pulled away the mulch around the trunk. There was only about 2 inches of the hemlock mulch to pull away before hitting dirt. It's interesting that this would happen after so long (though I did re-mulch the area this spring). Hopefully this will help- though I think the tree may be too far gone?

[NCSULandscaper]

ok now dig down in the dirt to find the root flare of the tree, it looks to be planted way too deep, usually redbud roots are right on the surface, so essentially the tree could be suffocating due to lack of oxygen to the roots.

[phototropic1]

Or.........it could be due to little red and pink dinosaurs!!!
Really, though I think NCSU may be onto something. When I first looked at the photos I noticed a definite lack of trunk flare. Any signs of insects chewing on the wood where the bark has peeled (or on the bark)? Kinda resembles some types of borers, which by the way love attacking wood weakened by being too deep (or weakened by any means).

[P-Train]

Originally posted by NCSULandscaper
its planted and burried in mulch way too deep, most likely the trunk is starting to decay and declining the health of the tree.......you may can save it by removing the mulch next to the trunk and finding the root flare.

I agree. That's the first thing I noticed.

If it doesn’t work out at least redbuds are cheap.

[stymie]

Originally posted by NCSULandscaper
ok now dig down in the dirt to find the root flare of the tree, it looks to be planted way too deep, usually redbud roots are right on the surface, so essentially the tree could be suffocating due to lack of oxygen to the roots.

How far out from the tree should I be removing dirt? I removed mulch/dirt around the trunk in about a 1 1/2 ft radius.

And there is no evidence of insect damage that I can see.

[stymie]

Thanks all for your suggestions.

This is the current state of the tree. Hopefully it will recover.

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/2244/redbud121mq.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4632/redbud22jpg9zr.jpg

[VoodooChile]

It might also be Verticillium Wilt. First signs of infection are individual branches suddenly wilting and dieing, either on one side of or scattered throughout the tree. If you peel away the bark of the dying branches you will see brown or green streaking in the sapwood.

There is no cure for this. The fungi that cause the disease are found in the soil and infect the roots of the plant.

You can prolong the life of the Redbud by pruning out the dead branches, sanitizing your clippers between each cut. The tree will become progressively more disfigured unfortunately.

If it is Verticillium Wilt, another Redbud would suffer the same fate as this one. Choose a Verticillium Wilt resistant species for the spot, like beech, birch, ginkgo, hackberry, hawthorn, hickory, honey locust, mountain ash, white and burr oak, poplar, serviceberry, sycamore, or willow.

Just my 2 cents...

[stymie]

Originally posted by VoodooChile
It might also be Verticillium Wilt. First signs of infection are individual branches suddenly wilting and dieing, either on one side of or scattered throughout the tree. If you peel away the bark of the dying branches you will see brown or green streaking in the sapwood.

There is no cure for this. The fungi that cause the disease are found in the soil and infect the roots of the plant.

You can prolong the life of the Redbud by pruning out the dead branches, sanitizing your clippers between each cut. The tree will become progressively more disfigured unfortunately.

If it is Verticillium Wilt, another Redbud would suffer the same fate as this one. Choose a Verticillium Wilt resistant species for the spot, like beech, birch, ginkgo, hackberry, hawthorn, hickory, honey locust, mountain ash, white and burr oak, poplar, serviceberry, sycamore, or willow.

Just my 2 cents...

Interesting thought. I have noticed throughout the years that once in a while a smaller branch will just die on me. It will be completely dry and brittle when I get to it.

thanks.

[VoodooChile]

Vert wilt is very common in Wisconsin, particularly in soils that were farmed and then developed for housing.

I've been told that hay crops (Alfalfa?) frequently introduce the fungus to the soil and it will be decades before the dormant fungus will disappear.

I'm not so sure about all that, but I have seen similar die-back on Redbuds that had the tell-tail streaking. You might peel back some bark on the affected branches and see what you find. You local extension office might offer disease diagnosis that would be more definitive. Being a fungal disease, it would have been more virulent during your recently wet Spring...

[Mark Oomkes]

Originally posted by VoodooChile
It might also be Verticillium Wilt. First signs of infection are individual branches suddenly wilting and dieing, either on one side of or scattered throughout the tree. If you peel away the bark of the dying branches you will see brown or green streaking in the sapwood.

There is no cure for this. The fungi that cause the disease are found in the soil and infect the roots of the plant.

You can prolong the life of the Redbud by pruning out the dead branches, sanitizing your clippers between each cut. The tree will become progressively more disfigured unfortunately.

If it is Verticillium Wilt, another Redbud would suffer the same fate as this one. Choose a Verticillium Wilt resistant species for the spot, like beech, birch, ginkgo, hackberry, hawthorn, hickory, honey locust, mountain ash, white and burr oak, poplar, serviceberry, sycamore, or willow.

Just my 2 cents...

Another reason why they are referred to as 'Deadbuds'

[LandArts]

We stopped planting "Deadbuds" years ago. Toooo many replacements.

[4seasons]

the main nursery I go to said that watering will cause the wilt to spread thru the ground.

[VoodooChile]

What's that I spy?

[VoodooChile]

It's a "Deadbud" seedling that's found a niche in the cracks of a sidewalk, a testament to how tough this tree can be when Verticillium Wilt isn't present.

[VoodooChile]

Here's the parent plant. This site is in an old Lake Geneva neighborhood just west of town, and was probably never farmed in the last century, so there is less of a chance that Vert Wilt is present.

Based on ithe parent plant's success, and the numerous Redbud seedlings in this yard, we took a gamble and added a Redbud to this install.

Unfortunately, Vert Wilt not only moves with water, it can also be carried on shovels, shoes, and other tools. So we could very well be replacing the new Redbud within a couple years.

But man, if it lives, what a beautiful, tough native tree.