Weeping willow nearly dead?

[Kogafortwo]

Attached is a pic of my neighbor's weeping willow. It is right on the water. That's the green weed covered pond in the background. He added a deck which you can see in the picture. I wonder if he coverd the roots and killed it that way? He wants to save it if possible. There are a very few green branches left on it. We live in Lowcountry SC which is Zone 8b.

Choices:
1. Treat the tree himself - how-to advice please
2. Call an arborist
3. Fire up the 028 and make chips, it's a goner

Glad for any advice.

 

[Dadatwins]

Remove the tree and close up the hole in the deck. Be thankful it died, willow grows so fast that the deck would be elevated and needed posts in a year or so.

 

[treeseer]

No offense to your neighbor but that is one of the dumbest construction projects ever.

Tree is dead. Plant something better, somewhere better.

 

[Kogafortwo]

Thanks treeseer and dadatwins. I will give my neighbor the bad news and give my saw some exercise.:chainsawguy:
I thought the root coverage might have done it, but it's his yard. I will not tell him about the comments on his construction. It might make him so mad that he'll forget to go to his fridge for my payment.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

No offense to your neighbor but that is one of the dumbest construction projects ever.

You don't get out much.
The deck looks nice to me, along the shore, a nice spot to sit and enjoy the pond. The tree going through the deck was a nice touch, like shigo used to say, "touch trees".
I have no idea what killed the willow, but the deck shouldn't have hurt it. Was the grade changed?

 

[Kogafortwo]

I have no idea what killed the willow, but the deck shouldn't have hurt it. Was the grade changed?[/QUOTE]

I have no idea what the grade was like before he put this in. For all I know, he might have added 2 or 3 feet of topsiol over the original ground. I wasn't around when he did it.

Anyways, I will give him the bad news about the tree and cut him some trash wood for his outdoor fireplace. Thanks.

 

[pbtree]

Cut that puppy down and enjoy the beer!

 

[Al Smith]

It's unusual for a willow of any kind to die unless it has been given a diet of Round Up for a long period of time.Lawdy that surely is a mossy pond.

 

[Kogafortwo]

Down here in the Lowcountry, all the freshwater gets like this unless it's flowing. It'll clear up in the winter. The gators just LUV that swamp. We have a couple of 6 - 8 footers behind my place, and some 9 - 10 footers out on the main lake.

P.S. On my second beer after a day of equipment repair and lawn mowing. Can't fire up the saw now, guess it'll wait for next weekend.

 

[Dixie1]

i know around here, ponds get green like that from too much phosphorous from all the chicken house run-off. does look like something you would find an alligator swimming in. yikes!

 

[Ed Roland]

No offense to your neighbor but that is one of the dumbest construction projects ever.

Tree is dead. Plant something better, somewhere better.

Wow, you dont see this Guy recommend removal very often.:biggrinbounce2:

 

[Kogafortwo]

Now it's most sincerely dead...

The aftermath...:chainsawguy:

 

[tawilson]

I wouldn't be surprised if that stump started sprouting branches. You might want to make sure it is not only merely dead.

 

[Kogafortwo]

I wouldn't be surprised if that stump started sprouting branches. You might want to make sure it is not only merely dead.

I will tell him to spray it down with some Round-Up. Thanks.

 

[Al Smith]

I wouldn't be surprised if that stump started sprouting branches. You might want to make sure it is not only merely dead.

Those that haven't been around them would be surprised at the regenerative properties of a weeping willow.You just can't hardly kill the danged things.

 

[Kogafortwo]

Those that haven't been around them would be surprised at the regenerative properties of a weeping willow.You just can't hardly kill the danged things.

Our Chinese Tallow trees (aka Popcorn trees) are the same way. I dropped a multiple trunk popcorn at my place earlier this year and have pulled up about 1000 sprouts up to 15 feet out from the trunk. I either mow them back, or I let my wife pluck them out of the ground while I watch.opcorn:

 

[Al Smith]

Some trees will propigate from the roots,such as quakeing aspen and black locust.

It may some hard to believe but I actually saw a weeping willow grow from a short chunk of discarded limb from a tree that had been cut down.They must be the star fish of treedom.