Construction of new neighborhoods is booming on the outskirts of town, and the developers are frequently leaving individual or groups of trees, predominantly Post Oaks, in the new yards.
A year or two after the houses are sold, the trees begin to show signs of decline, and then gradually die to the dismay of the homeowners. This is usually do to extreme damage to the root zone including trenching of utilities, construction of foundations, driveways, and streets, and compaction by heavy equipment (which drives all over around the trees, just not into them).
I receive quite a few calls from new homeowners with their trees in varying states of decline, from dieback in the upper crown to dead as a doornail. And none of them want to here that the cause is construction damage and that they're basically SOL. They want the problem to be some disease or bug that can be sprayed or perhaps they just need a little fertilizer, etc.
I looked at one such situation yesterday. I may have a chance to post some pictures on here, but it is not hard to imagine. Most of the 50 trees are Post Oaks, and 75% of them have a few feet of dieback in the top of the crown. A few of the trees are almost completely dead, and some that are further from structures look OK so far. Many of the trees have lost over 1/2 of their root zones do to the construction, and then compaction of much of what's left. The house is only 1 1/2 years old.
The lady that owns the expensive house is distraught. She loves the trees, and was lead to believe that they would be there for years to come. I have virtually no good solutions to offer her, only bad news.
Obviously, the developers need to get their sh$$ together on this issue. It's too obvious and too frequent of a problem for them to plead ignorance. They either need to protect the root zones when feasible or bulldoze the trees along with the rest of the forest to begin with. It's enough to make you sick. The house is sold, money's in the bank "Enjoy your trees!".
Hopefully people will become more educated as time goes on, but in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for salvaging these damaged trees? With the current client, the trees are already surrounded by a layer of cypress mulch. These trees grow in fairly poor, well-drained soils naturally, so I feel as though watering and fertilizing may do more harm than good. Maybe some aeration to alleviate the compacted conditions might help. Any suggestions or thoughts on this issue?
A year or two after the houses are sold, the trees begin to show signs of decline, and then gradually die to the dismay of the homeowners. This is usually do to extreme damage to the root zone including trenching of utilities, construction of foundations, driveways, and streets, and compaction by heavy equipment (which drives all over around the trees, just not into them).
I receive quite a few calls from new homeowners with their trees in varying states of decline, from dieback in the upper crown to dead as a doornail. And none of them want to here that the cause is construction damage and that they're basically SOL. They want the problem to be some disease or bug that can be sprayed or perhaps they just need a little fertilizer, etc.
I looked at one such situation yesterday. I may have a chance to post some pictures on here, but it is not hard to imagine. Most of the 50 trees are Post Oaks, and 75% of them have a few feet of dieback in the top of the crown. A few of the trees are almost completely dead, and some that are further from structures look OK so far. Many of the trees have lost over 1/2 of their root zones do to the construction, and then compaction of much of what's left. The house is only 1 1/2 years old.
The lady that owns the expensive house is distraught. She loves the trees, and was lead to believe that they would be there for years to come. I have virtually no good solutions to offer her, only bad news.
Obviously, the developers need to get their sh$$ together on this issue. It's too obvious and too frequent of a problem for them to plead ignorance. They either need to protect the root zones when feasible or bulldoze the trees along with the rest of the forest to begin with. It's enough to make you sick. The house is sold, money's in the bank "Enjoy your trees!".
Hopefully people will become more educated as time goes on, but in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for salvaging these damaged trees? With the current client, the trees are already surrounded by a layer of cypress mulch. These trees grow in fairly poor, well-drained soils naturally, so I feel as though watering and fertilizing may do more harm than good. Maybe some aeration to alleviate the compacted conditions might help. Any suggestions or thoughts on this issue?