Can I save part of this birch?

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm in the camp of maintiane it now and monitor it over time. This speicies dos not grow big and fast and can be usefull in the landscape for some time to come.

One of the porblems with being in the buisness fora while is that we become KnowItAlls and do not undersand that most people can understand their own risk tolerance.

As long as we help them do that, we can work with them in maintaining their property as they wish.

Sometimes it is not possible and the tree has to come down, but not often.

this is especially true after a storm, if we cut down every tree we see with damage we may be clearcutting a property. How is that a good thing?

As for Clearances comment on cyclical manenance/inpsection, how is that a bad thing if the client can afford it? They want to keep larger trees and manage the risk to a certain level.

 

[Old Monkey]

Funny thing happened to me after I posted on this thread. I noticed that about one third of the top of my maple tree is dead. I suspect verticillium wilt as it seems quite common in maples here. Now the tree isn't very big and the parts that are left are still pretty. I think it will probably not make it over the long run. So far I think I'm just going to let it be and start its replacement nearby(something not so susceptable to wilt). I don't advocate for removals all the time but I think it is better to have a yard where the ages of plants and trees are varied so that everything isn't lost if one tree goes. I also prefer to mix fast growers and slow growers with the long term goal of removing the fast grower when the time comes. I don't think its wrong to keep this river birch I'd just have another plan started for its eventual demise.

 

[treeseer]

I suspect verticillium wilt as it seems quite common in maples here. ...I think it will probably not make it over the long run. .

Your suspicion about verticilium should be confirmed before you just let nature take its course. There could be other, more treatable causes of your maple's decline. Post a picture?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Verticillium in Boise is rampant. A result of all of the agriculture in the valley. With ag crops they can beat it back with annual soil treatments or by using vert resistant strains of plants.

I've never heard of a reasonable way to treat vert in the landscape.

In my experience, river birch are much more decay resistant that paper birch. There have been trees exactly like Pondracers growing for years without any treatment. With a cable and maybe some pruning the tree is likely to stand for a long time.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to start another tree nearby to either add to the screening or replace that one if it goes down. Get one with a true three stem clump, not a single stem with a double leader second.

Am I still grumpy?

 

[Stumper]

Like Tom, I know of no way to eliminate Vert. wilt in the landscape. One of the things I have observed about Verticillium and S. Maples is that frequently the stress of Iron and Manganese deficiency seems to start the decline prior to the Vert. invasion. Modifying soil pH and supplementing with Iron and Manganese can sometimes correct the problem before onset of the "incurable" disease. If the tree already has Vert. wilt the better nutrition will mitigate symptoms and prolong the tree's useful life. :angel:

 

[treeseer]

Am I still grumpy?

Very Nice. Tomorrow, how about eating breakfast a little earlier?

God ideas form Stumper; the 1/2 of the tree below the ground desrves at least 1/4 of our attention.

 

[Pondracer]

"I don't think its wrong to keep this river birch I'd just have another plan started for its eventual demise."

This was my exact thought after working on it over the weekend. If I lose the split side its just going to look bad. I am clamping and screwing the split together and I'll post pics of the repair when its done. I figure if I can get it to make it 3 years thats fine... anything more is a bonus. That area back there is chronically wet in the spring/late winter. I will either put a cypress or a swamp oak in there next month. Thought about a willow as it would help block out the neighbor and the road, but I'm not sure how hardy they are.

Being two blocks from the ???? long-horn Asian beetle zone makes me leery of planting an oak.

And another question... once I bring the split together should I seal the crack with tar or anything?

 

[Old Monkey]

Gosh, was that my advice? Treeseer- I'll try to get some pics of the tree this week when it stops raining/snowing. Stumper-thanks for the advice. Tom-decidedly less grumpy.

Since this thread has the attention of you guys, I have some other questions. I work for three arborists . Sorry, Jerel if you read that.
1) In California we would use bleach on our saws to keep from spreading phytopthera(Sudden Oak Death) and when we did fruit trees. We would have one guy do oak trims and another do (SOD)removals. What can a climber be a vector for?

2)When someone before you left big stubs behind in a tree, say 4" or better. When should you cut them off and when should you leave them? If its starting to heal around the whole stub, should I just leave it alone?

I had more questions but I just spent an hour talking with my wife about the state of affairs at my daughter's daycare.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Tom-decidedly less grumpy.

2)When someone before you left big stubs behind in a tree, say 4" or better. When should you cut them off and when should you leave them? If its starting to heal around the whole stub, should I just leave it alone?

Food in the belly makes my brain work better, I should know that by now

If the tree has started to callous over the stub, don't injure the tree again. You'll start a whole new CODIT system. Shigo has some great illustrations in his books about rewounding trees.