18" Healthy Oak Tree Falls Unexpectedly

[Allyn]

We had some strong straight line winds 50mph+ that hit our area and we lost a healthy 18" diameter oak (plenty of green leaves, healthy looking bark). I went down into our ravine and noticed that our lawn care company was dumping their grass clippings around the tree. The pile was pretty deep and decomposing and it looked like they had been dumping there for quite some time. I dug down and it was very wet & slimy. My question is "Would such a pile hold enough moisture and could this have caused the tree roots to retract and stay shallow?" "Would this have caused the tree to fall prematurely?" "Would our clay soil have been made soft enough to cause the tree to lose it's anchoring?" In our neighborhood, I have only seen one other large tree fallen by the wind, which was in a ravine and on a very steep slope. Thanks so much for your help, guidance and input. :msp_mad:

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Yes it could have been a factor, or not, no way to know for sure, but WTH? They have just been dumping away on your property? Bad form, bad form. Hopefully it was with your knowledge and consent? Having said that, 50+winds, in a ravine, hard to say if the clippings were a factor or not. How did the rootball look? Signs of rot? Or did it just upend and take a lot of soil/rock with it?

 

[Raintree]

Seen many a compost piles rot out trees, this is not uncommon.

 

[Hoowasat]

We had some strong straight line winds 50mph+ that hit our area ...

We had those same winds as I'm just down the road from you. I recall hearing advice that when placing mulch around a tree, it is a good practice to recess the mulch around the tree's perimeter and not let it pile up against the bark. I heard that placing mulch directly against the bark invites all sorts of insect infestation, and the additional moisture of rotting grass clippings could eventually weaken a tree. Being that your oak was in a ravine, then its root base was not equal in all directions. I'm no arborist, but I believe there is a distinct difference in how a tree's roots behave in relation to how the exposed (or in your case, formerly-exposed) bark behaves.

 

[Allyn]

Grass Clippings & Root Ball

Yes it could have been a factor, or not, no way to know for sure, but WTH? They have just been dumping away on your property? Bad form, bad form. Hopefully it was with your knowledge and consent? Having said that, 50+winds, in a ravine, hard to say if the clippings were a factor or not. How did the rootball look? Signs of rot? Or did it just upend and take a lot of soil/rock with it?

Thank you for your response. I guess we should have monitored the grass clippings more closely, it will not happen again on our watch and we will be more careful with our fall leaves as well. The rootball is not very large and void of many roots but as I said before the tree bark looked healthy and the leaf canopy was lush and full. There we so few roots I am not sure what was holding the tree up. Really upsetting to lose such a significant tree plus the surrounds smaller trees which came down as well during the crash. Trying to get to the bottom of this so I can warn my neighbors, who also surround our many ravines, so that we can prevent this from happening again. I went into the ravine and raked some of the other areas to even them out and to get them away from the larger trees. As guess on how long it takes for such decay to occur if the clippings were the culprit? We plan to spike (Jobe's) some of the other large trees near our home in the hopes of keeping them more healthy. Any other thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Allyn]

Seen many a compost piles rot out trees, this is not uncommon.

Thanks so much for your reply. In you educated opinion, how long does this take to happen? 4-6" deep surrounding a large oak tree in the middle peninsula Virginia? The tree ball was not very large and contained very few roots. Not sure what was holding the tree up in the first place. The tree bark looked healthy and the leaf canopy was lush and full. Good figure. Any further thoughts, suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. I would like to warn our neighbors who live on our many ravines.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I'd stay away from the fret. Generally speaking, unless a tree is showing some sign of stress or deficiency fret does more harm than good. Let them get what they need from the soil they grew up in at their own pace.