Birch tree dropping leaves
 

all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it did
this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,
doesn't it?
Jackie
zone 7

J. Davidson wrote:
all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it did
this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,
doesn't it?
Jackie
zone 7




Zone 7 seems kinda warm for a birch tree (they are northern temperate /
sub-arctic trees.) So maybe that's the problem.

Have you seriously disturbed the soil near the tree (eg, rebuilt a
driveway or walkway)? Birch trees do not like have their toes stepped on.

Look for D shaped holes in the bark about bb size or just a bit
smaller.
Be about time for the emergence of bronze birch borers.
Are these birch trees planted in the sun? makes them more susceptable.

"J. Davidson" wrote in message
news:doDte.50594$iU.2316@lakeread05...
all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it
did
this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,
doesn't it?
Jackie
zone 7

Mine are doing the same thing, in zone 5.

Diane

this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,

Mine are doing the same thing, in zone 5.

Birch trees can die of old age. Is it over twenty years old?

"Bert Byfield" wrote in message
7...
this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,

Mine are doing the same thing, in zone 5.

Birch trees can die of old age. Is it over twenty years old?

Mine are only several years old. They are whitespire birch only about 12'
tall. I checked trunk & every branch for those D shaped bb size areas but
found nothing. I'm a little concerned about someone mentioning they are
not for full sun. When planted, the instructions given were to plant in
full sun. Hence they have sun from about 9 am on. No little caterpillers or
bugs on the leaves. I'm spraying with a fungicide to see if that will help?
Any other ideas?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Diane

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:53:40 -0400, J. Davidson wrote:

all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it
did this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding
leaves, doesn't it?
Jackie
zone 7

Good day J. Not seeing a photo of the infected leaves or tree makes it a
bit difficult assess the cause. With that said, I would suspect Birch Rust
or aphids.

A photo of Birch rust:
http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/images/Large/birchrust.jpg

Birch rust ( Melampsoridium betulinum ) starts to show up in early summer
as small, yellow spots on leaves. These then turn in to brown spots with
yellow edges.
Check out this page and see what you think:

http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/

Click Ornamentals Birch Rust
Or you can follow this huge link:

http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/scripts...c ategoryID=1

A more common problem around here for birch is aphids. With heavy
infestations, the leaves can become yellow and drop. Along with an aphid
infestation you generaly find black sooty mold on the tops of leaves and
you may notice many ants climbing your tree. The ants are farming the
aphids for honeydew and they tend to protect them from predators. If you
find aphids, I would suggest that you hose the tree off with a garden hose
every few days for a couple of weeks. Take aim for the underside of the
leaves where the aphids live. After they get washed off, their good as
dead but aphids have many generations of eggs that hatch over a few weeks.
Generally the ladybug nymphs will keep the tree clean after the ladybug
populations get large enough.

Good luck.
--
Yard Works Gardening Co.
http://ywgc.com/resources.html

My Birch is probably 9 years old. I will look for D shaped holes, etc.
tomorrow in day light.
Thanks,
Jackie
..

Birch trees can die of old age. Is it over twenty years old?

Mine are only several years old. They are whitespire birch only about 12'
tall. I checked trunk & every branch for those D shaped bb size areas but
found nothing. I'm a little concerned about someone mentioning they are
not for full sun. When planted, the instructions given were to plant in
full sun. Hence they have sun from about 9 am on. No little caterpillers
or
bugs on the leaves. I'm spraying with a fungicide to see if that will
help?
Any other ideas?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Diane

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:53:40 -0400, "J. Davidson"
wrote:

all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it did
this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves,
doesn't it?
Jackie
zone 7


I'm in zone 7 too and noticed same problem in the neighborhood. I
think it due to the rain here in Charlotte a couple weeks ago. We got
5 inches in about one day and it may have killed off some roots. I've
similar problems with red maple but the silver maple is doing better.
I've a large oak that leaves on the ends of some branches died off.
I think it due to the rain. Hold off the watering and they will
likely come back.

Thunder