What could cause literally half of a tree to die?

[Plasmech]

What could cause literally half of a tree to die? By "half" I don't mean "50% of it is dead wood", I mean that if you were to divide the tree into two equal parts left-to-right with a line towards the sky, one half is dead.

Could this be caused by poor soil on one half of the tree?

 

[Tree Pig]

girdled roots?

by the way welcome back Plas

 

[tree MDS]

Verticillium wilt might be a possibility.. not that I really know much about it. What kind of tree?

 

[RacerX]

Is it possible that it got struck by lightning? Just wondering why something like soil conditions would suddenly change.

 

[TreEmergencyB]

i bet the other half will die too!

 

[jefflovstrom]

Could be a root issue. Repairs on driveways, side walks, irrigation.
Jeff

 

[DDM]

Lightning gets my vote.

 

[beastmaster]

What kind of tree is it? Fusarium can sometimes kill one side of its host first, followed later by the other side. beastmaster

 

[treesandsurf]

I agree my first guess would be recent damage to root system. Could be on the same side as the dieback or opposite depending on the species.

jp

 

[Don't-B-Stumped]

I'm voting for lightning. Just saw a huge oak tree that is still partially alive that was struck by lightning. Most of it is dead now. Really ashame as its a beautiful old oak and one of the larger ones around here. You can see the evidence where the lightning came out the trunk near the ground

 

[jefflovstrom]

I think it is a root issue. The OP would have mentioned or noticed a lighting strike.
Jeff :msp_smile:

 

[Frax]

Saw this last year on a private job for a friend. Crab apple, and one half dead, other half looked fine.
I think normally one would be looking for root problems as already suggested, but there were no changes to account for it. The gas line to the house ran through the zone and I have always wondered about gas line leak. I don't know how common small gas line leaks might be but I know natural gas leaks will damage trees.

 

[rxgreen]

Crab apple?

Saw this last year on a private job for a friend. Crab apple, and one half dead, other half looked fine.
I think normally one would be looking for root problems as already suggested, but there were no changes to account for it. The gas line to the house ran through the zone and I have always wondered about gas line leak. I don't know how common small gas line leaks might be but I know natural gas leaks will damage trees.

Was there spotting on the leaves that were still on the alive side of the crab apple? If so and if the leaves were falling earlier in the season then they should it is apple scab disease which I have saw an increase with this same occurrence in Michigan.

 

[Frax]

Was there spotting on the leaves that were still on the alive side of the crab apple? If so and if the leaves were falling earlier in the season then they should it is apple scab disease which I have saw an increase with this same occurrence in Michigan.

Hmm? It was awhile ago and I think the
healthy side looked perfect, but I didn't examine to too closely. I can ask HO if that half of tree still looks OK.