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Sickly Silver Birch (SSB) Betella Penduls
My fifteen year old Silver Birch, planted as a very young tree, is sickly.
It is some 25 feet high and has lost its leaves at its apex and at the extremities in other places. Other leaves are smaller than they should be and with evidence of slight choruses. The tree is less furnished with leaves than it should be. There is no evidence of insect or viral/fungoid infection. It was planted on the site of a 150 y.o. beech which came down in the Great Storm. Up to now it has flourished. We are on chalk and it is surrounded by a beech hedge and shrubs ( buddleia, lilac which are flourishing), it is some 10 feet from and five feet above a lane which is heavily trafficked in rush hours. It is three feet above and 35 feet from our cess pit. It has been gently fed with mild fertilizers to prevent over feeding and scorch etc and well watered - we are on chalk. We are well up on the South slope of the North Downs and its position is exposed - but this has not effected another some 150 yards away at the top of the garden. Has anyone any ideas/suggestions? PeterP |
#2
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Sickly Silver Birch (SSB) Betella Penduls
"PendletonPR" wrote in message ...
My fifteen year old Silver Birch, planted as a very young tree, is sickly. It is some 25 feet high and has lost its leaves at its apex and at the extremities in other places. Other leaves are smaller than they should be and with evidence of slight choruses. The tree is less furnished with leaves than it should be. There is no evidence of insect or viral/fungoid infection. It was planted on the site of a 150 y.o. beech which came down in the Great Storm. Up to now it has flourished. We are on chalk and it is surrounded by a beech hedge and shrubs ( buddleia, lilac which are flourishing), it is some 10 feet from and five feet above a lane which is heavily trafficked in rush hours. It is three feet above and 35 feet from our cess pit. It has been gently fed with mild fertilizers to prevent over feeding and scorch etc and well watered - we are on chalk. We are well up on the South slope of the North Downs and its position is exposed - but this has not effected another some 150 yards away at the top of the garden. Has anyone any ideas/suggestions? Birches aren't at their happiest on chalk, but it doesn't kill them as far as I know. And they don't mind exposure. I imagine you got all the roots of the old beech out before planting, as there's no sign of fungus. I'm ashamed to say I don't know what choruses are in this context. I wonder if it might be root strangulation? If the roots aren't well spread out when a young tree is planted you may see no ill effects for several years until finally the crossing roots get big enough to choke one another. If you think this is a possibility (but you don't sound like the kind of gardener who would have made such a mistake) it would be worth scraping soil away just in case you can see what's going on under there. If there's a visible stranglehold, I'd risk cutting one of the tangled roots through near the base; but I don't know if it would work -- anyhow, it would take a couple of years to see any difference. I wonder if root-pruning, as with fruit trees, might encourage it to make more small feeding roots near the surface. Does a birch really need fertilizer? They grow naturally on very poor soils, after all. I suppose it's possible that it's had a bit too much, but I rather doubt it. Wonder if it would like a good dose of sequestered iron in case the chalk's left it a bit chlorotic and sad? Now might help, and again just before bud-burst next spring, with an acid peat mulch: it certainly wouldn't do any harm. They're beautiful things: I do hope we can get this one healthy again. Mike. |
#3
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Sickly Silver Birch (SSB) Betella Penduls
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message om... "PendletonPR" wrote in message ... My fifteen year old Silver Birch, planted as a very young tree, is sickly. It is some 25 feet high and has lost its leaves at its apex and at the extremities in other places. Other leaves are smaller than they should be and with evidence of slight choruses. The tree is less furnished with leaves than it should be. There is no evidence of insect or viral/fungoid infection. It was planted on the site of a 150 y.o. beech which came down in the Great Storm. Up to now it has flourished. We are on chalk and it is surrounded by a beech hedge and shrubs ( buddleia, lilac which are flourishing), it is some 10 feet from and five feet above a lane which is heavily trafficked in rush hours. It is three feet above and 35 feet from our cess pit. It has been gently fed with mild fertilizers to prevent over feeding and scorch etc and well watered - we are on chalk. We are well up on the South slope of the North Downs and its position is exposed - but this has not effected another some 150 yards away at the top of the garden. Has anyone any ideas/suggestions? Many thanks for your thoughts Mike. I append some notes on the points you make :- Birches aren't at their happiest on chalk, but it doesn't kill them as far as I know. And they don't mind exposure. Its brother up the garden in an even more exposed location and, if anything, is on shallower soil is unaffected. I imagine you got all the roots of the old beech out before planting, as there's no sign of fungus. I'm ashamed to say I don't know what choruses are in this context. The old roots were completely removed - as far as one can with a 150 year old tree! There is absolutely no sign of fungus on or near the birch and everything around it flourishes - a lilac has grown 6 fet in two years. I wonder if it might be root strangulation? If the roots aren't well spread out when a young tree is planted you may see no ill effects for several years until finally the crossing roots get big enough to choke one another. If you think this is a possibility (but you don't sound like the kind of gardener who would have made such a mistake) it would be worth scraping soil away just in case you can see what's going on under there. If there's a visible stranglehold, I'd risk cutting one of the tangled roots through near the base; but I don't know if it would work -- anyhow, it would take a couple of years to see any difference. I wonder if root-pruning, as with fruit trees, might encourage it to make more small feeding roots near the surface. We checked the root run and they appear healthy. Does a birch really need fertilizer? They grow naturally on very poor soils, after all. I suppose it's possible that it's had a bit too much, but I rather doubt it. We have been very careful about over feeding you can do a lot of harm with too much kindness. Wonder if it would like a good dose of sequestered iron in case the chalk's left it a bit chlorotic and sad? I doubt it but we will try. Now might help, and again just before bud-burst next spring, with an acid peat mulch: it certainly wouldn't do any harm. They're beautiful things: I do hope we can get this one healthy again. Mike. Thanks again Mike. Last year we nearly lost everything to rabbits - they have disappeared this year Myx. I suppose. This year the birch although everything else is flourishing. PeterP |
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