Can I get your opinion please.....

[Sapling]

I have a customer who has a tree (Black Ash I believe) in their front yard. It was planted by the developer 6 years ago. The tree looks so young...I don't think it has been growing well. Black Ash don't do well in our province from what I have heard (pretty dry here).
1. Pretty sure it has Cottony Psyllid based on what he has told me. Sounds like it has gone untreated for a few years.
2. Take a look at these pictures...the tree is surrounded by a ton of landscape rock and it looks as though the tree has been 'girdled' at the base. Can this have been a major cause of the growth and stress problems?
3. The tree has no leaves yet and seems to be pretty much dead but I am not entirely certain as Ash trees tend to leaf out last in our province. You can see the colour difference in the picture of the area above the rock and the area below.

Your opinions please.......

 

[tomtrees58]

its to low in the ground dig it and replant it put chips around it lose the rocks tom trees

 

[(WLL)]

move the stone away until you can see the root flare. i would not dig and re plant. looks like the synthetic black material should be pulled away from the tree if you can. do not bury the flare!!! the blk ash grows well in the marsh,swamps and bottomlands and does very well in canada. they can grow about 75-80ft tall and the buds are just about black.

 

[arbor pro]

The graft of the stem onto the roots (if this is a cultivar of black ash) should be at ground level or slightly higher. If it's more than a couple of inches below the soil level, it's definitely planted too deep. The attached photo show a tree planted too deeply. The graft (bump where roots meet trunk) should be at or above ground level - not below. (note - I snatched the photo off of the internet, it's not one of mine).

I'm also wondering if the tree was staked for a long duration of time? If the tree was staked for too long, that could help explain why there is no taper to the base of the trunk.

If it's planted too deeply, the solution is to try to excavate some of the soil around the tree or, at a last resort, to lift the tree (replant it higher) when it has gone dormant. The roots have to have oxygen and the root flare needs to be at or slightly above ground level to properly support the tree. Otherwise, the trunk will not develop proper taper and the tree will eventually snap off at the base when subjected to a good wind.

 

[ATS/TexasTree]

The least expensive and best solution is to replant - different species, better location, planted properly - all will cost less than nursing along this sick, pathetic specimen with a short useful life span.

 

[Frax]

Nearly all the black ash in Calgary I have seen have psyllid and it will kill them eventually if not treated by systemics. But, everything you have been told by others so far is bang on. That tree was put in its coffin...not properly planted.