Just planted River Birch

[flymaster55]

I planted what appeared to be a healthy 8-10' river birch at a client's home five days ago. The client called me yesterday and said the leaves of the tree are turning yellow and dropping off. My first thought was an iron deficiency, but could that show up in only five days? The tree is planted in clay soil, at the proper planting depth, and has been watered. The only other clue I have is there were some Walnut trees in the nearby area that were removed some time ago. I've never seen a tree go South so quickly, any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Maybe it's some kind of transplant shock. Was it recently balled? Was it transported with the foliage exposed to wind? Is it getting over watered?
It is a very hot time of year to move trees.

 

[Tio]

Hmmm...

An iron deficiency would not show up that quickly.

I am with Mike on the shock factor.

Pretty hot to be moving trees.

A nursery grown tree becomes accustomed to a certain 'water table' and when it is moved to its new home does not have the same conditions it was used to.

Potted plants become used to sending roots downwards (and around) because of the way they are forced to search for water and nutrients.

When they are placed in their new homes they are still looking for that regular watering/feeding cycle.

They are usually disappointed in this because the the new owner does not water deeply or regularly enough.

It can take several years (depending on the age/diameter of the trunk) for the tree to become established in its new location.

You also have to consider the whole clay soil thingy.

A lot of these trees you get are used to a porous type potting mixture.

Then you put them into a heavy clay soil environment and they just don't know what to do.

Water puddles up in the hole.

They send their little roots out, and can't find an opening in that hard packed clay.

What I like to do is, dig my planting hole really wide.

More so than deep.

I don't amend much with compost or anything.

I just want the soil loosened up so the new roots can crawl through easily.

I make several really deep cuts (inch or more) around the root ball and a couple on the bottom.

I've even been known to wash all the dirt out of the root ball at times, but I don't always do that.

The thing about watering in clay is; you want to water enough to keep the baby alive, but not enough to rot the roots, and make it send out new ones into the surrounding soil.

A lot of people I have seen, just water right up close to the tree.

Roots are like puppies; they will seek that nipple out.

They will crawl all around looking for that nipple.

Water the whole area and they will move right in.

On a side note about walnut trees. They pretty much don't like anything growing around them. The husks of the nut themselves, make a pretty good fishing lure also.

 

[flymaster55]

River birch

Thanks for the replies. What's strange is that these River birches were dug up early in the Spring, B&B and rested in a mulch bed at the nursery. I've used three other Birch trees from the same nursery in earlier jobs this year. However each tree is different and transplant shock seems to be the only reasonable answer. I'll advise the client to make sure it receives an inch of water per week and hope it flushes out again this year.

 

[Lawnmowerboy48]

I just planted one myself a couple of weeks ago and it did the same things yours is doing. After about two weeks of being in the ground it really perked up, only now with fewer leaves. I would definetly have to agree with transplant shock.

 

[woodville]

All river birches will do this at transplant, installation, or early summer if a very wet or dry spring. Don't stress it and reassure the client that this is normal for birches.

 

[Speedzilla]

Just found this thread via Google after trying to find some info on this very topic.

I planted a 10' tall River Birch this Spring. Planted in heavy clay soil that is often wet, this was the tree recommended for that area by our local store.

When I planted it, I dug the hole big enough to put in about 120 lbs of good top soil below and around the tree ball.

Watered it fairly often and it seemed to be doing well.

After a couple months, I went out and gave it a nice watering, which was followed by a surprise downpour. The tree rec'd a lot of water over a 2-day period. Within a day or two the leaves yellowed and started dropping.

I thought about it and figured that the water had no way to escape the hole due to the clay soil. I avoided watering it for a while and it seemed to be recovering. Then after another big rain storm the leaves started falling again.

I decided to try and remedy the problem by pulling the tree up and digging a much deeper hole. In that hole I put some more top soil and sand to try and allow the hole to drain better.

Currently, the majority of the leaves are yellowed, but not all have dropped.

Any advice as to what I should do?

Leave it alone and cross my fingers?

Move the tree to a better location?

Fertilizer?


Any help would be appreciated, thanks.