Hi,

A bradford pear tree in my front yard (about 7 years old) looked sickly and
dead last summer. This spring it seems to have flowered but has very few
leaves. Is there any chances of reviving this tree?

I also find that the yews around this tree and the tododendrons nearby keep
dying whereas the daisies in the same area seem to be florishing. Is this
because of the local soil condition.

I live in Michigan and the house front faces SW and gets plenty of Sun
during afternoons.

Any help is appreciated.

"R. Kannan" wrote in message
t...
Hi,

A bradford pear tree in my front yard (about 7 years old) looked sickly
and
dead last summer. This spring it seems to have flowered but has very few
leaves. Is there any chances of reviving this tree?

Yes, probably - see below


I also find that the yews around this tree and the tododendrons nearby
keep
dying whereas the daisies in the same area seem to be florishing. Is this
because of the local soil condition.

I live in Michigan and the house front faces SW and gets plenty of Sun
during afternoons.

Any help is appreciated.

from your description, it sounds like the soil is not "acid enough" for
nutrients to get into the roots.

check ph at the drip lines.. plants need some "acidity" to be able to move
the nutrients from the soil.
The plants you describe as having trouble need more acidic soil than
other plants, and the one you described as doing well gets along OK in less
acid soil.

barring disease, the tree will probably be ok if it can get some food into
its leaves now - so
1) check soil ph at the drip line,
2) fix the soil, and meanwhile
3) feed the tree leaves directly with foilar fertilizer (miracle gro) each
week until you can get the roots able to take up food (miracid sort of
works, but don't burn the roots) - it takes a few weeks for the roots to
change ph and for hair roots to grow.

-------
background - I had a neighbor who ringed her trees with marble chips, and in
three years my garden, soil just a bit downhill from the chips, had gone
from 6.5 to ph 8. Marigolds did ok, but the rest of it looked pretty sad.
The local U and the garden center people were scratching their heads.
(they didn't realize that marble is aged pressed limestone)

The "circle of ill" kept getting bigger, and I was acidifying the soil
pretty good with lawn amendments. The only thing that kept them alive was
"miracle gro" foilar fertilizer
Then she moved, and the next guy took out the marble, and now after three
years, all is ok and ph is back down in the acid range.

The plants are doing well. I only lost one shrub.

fwiw......