Dogwood problem

[Vicki]

I live in a townhouse--When I first bought it (brand new), there was a white dogwood in the front yard. After many, many years this beautiful dogwood died. I planted a new one, but the recent 17 year bug got it. I have a new dogwood planted in the same spot--having planted it approximately April of this year. This is in my front yard--which faces south.

The dogwood is white--it is the variety that blooms in very early spring--the kind where the flower is separate from the leaf (not the flower appearing kind of on top of the leaf). The flowers were beautiful. After they bloomed, the leaves have been a beautiful shade of green--there are the (I'm not sure what you call them)--what looks like seed buds on the tree.

Now, the problem I am having is this: I live in Maryland, near Washington, D.C. We have been having very hot weather recently. I have been watering the tree--deep watering--not every day. Last night when I came home from work I noticed that a number of the lower leaves were turning yellow. This concerns me a great deal. It may be that this is the time when these leaves turn yellow, but I'm not sure--and don't remember from my past dogwoods. Am I having a problem and don't know it? I have researched the various diseases, etc., and haven't found anything that addresses this. It's not leaf scorch--as it's the whole leaf that is yellow. (I am a bit concerned that maybe my neighbor is watering my tree also--I have spoken to him now--and he's aware of the problem now, but I know he wouldn't admit if he was watering also--though he did say he was watering my yard. I was wondering if he was "watering" the leaves also--as I had read that you should water from the top--to keep the water off the leaves--would that have done this to the tree?)

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Hi Vicki!

Check out this link.

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/dogwoodanthracnose/dogwood anthracnose.htm

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Over watering can cause the problem you describe. Use a stick or finger to poke into the soil before you water, if it's still wet, hold off watering.
You need to check the ball of soil that came with the tree too for water. The roots of a new planting are concentrated in the ball and that dries out first, even if the surrounding soil is wet.
Deep shade can also cause leaves to yellow and die, often those leaves on the bottom or in the middle of the tree.
Can you post a picture?

 

[Vicki]

Thank you, Nycha and Mike. I looked at the site you gave me, Nycha--and it doesn't look like that. However, that was good information--and some of it I had read in doing other research. Thanks.

Mike--It could very well be that it was overwatered. After reading your reply, I called my neighbor--and I suggested that maybe "we" had watered too much--that way, he doesn't feel to blame. He said "maybe" which leads me to believe that he was watering the tree (even though I was watering it--perhaps he didn't realize I was watering it). However, I will check with a stick--around the area of the tree--as well as the root ball. It's not planted in a shady area--in fact, probably unfortunately, it gets sun pretty much the whole day.

I will try to get a picture posted, but it will take a day or so.

Meantime--I'll check on the dampness of the soil.

Thank you so much. I sure don't want to lose this tree.

 

[Vicki]

I have taken pictures and will get them developed tonight. Then I'll post a picture. I didn't take an up-close picture of the leaf/leaves--didn't think about taking an up-close picture. Anyway, when I went home last night I found that the leaves that had turned yellow were no longer yellow--they are now an orangish color. It's as though the tree is out of its cycle. I made sure that the mulch was not anywhere around the trunk--so as not to suffocate the tree. I was unable to measure the moisture depth in the soil as we had a huge rainstorm yesterday afternoon--so I couldn't tell the wetness of the soil that was prior to the rainstorm. Anyway, I read about the crown canker (making early fall color), but I see nothing like that having to do with this dogwood tree. I shall post a picture as soon as its developed. Thank you.

 

[Vicki]

Okay--here are pictures of my dogwood--the leaves that were yellow are orange now. It's like the dogwood doesn't know what season it is.

Hope this posts correctly. I haven't figured out how to simply post one or two of the tree pictures--so, you get the whole shebang:

http://photos.yahoo.com/vwoitzel

 

[Dadatwins]

Nice landscaping, tree looks like it might have been planted to deep. Looks like a lot of mulch around the base also. I like to still be able to see the root flair even with the mulch ring and I am seeing a lot of mulch. Looks very wet also. Grass is super green for this time of year which means to me a ton of water is going on it and might be drowning the tree. How wide was the hole made for the root ball? Was wrapping and string removed from ball? When you move the mulch away from the base, does the soil have a mildewy smell?

 

[Vicki]

Hi Dadatwins,

Thanks for your reply. Nice to see someone somewhat near me. You know--when I was looking at my pictures, it did look like there was too much mulch around the base, but I'm thinking maybe it was the angle of the pictures, though not sure. I checked to make sure there wasn't any mulch anywhere around the base--to make sure it's all pushed back away from the tree's base--and it is. I pushed more back also to make sure. When my neighbor and I planted it, we did remove the string, etc., but not the burlap. The nursery told us to leave the burlap, that it would disintegrate with time and wasn't necessary to remove. (If it needs removed, I suppose we could dig the tree up and take it off.) We planted it so that the burlap/dirt can still be seen somewhat above ground. The mulch looks moist because of it being the black mulch (always looks damp even when not watered). However, I do agree that the grass does look quite green for this time of year, and I think that's due to my neighbor doing the watering after I have gone to work. We also have ChemLawn for our homeowner association. The one thing I don't know is how wide we made the hole. We did make it quite big, but I'm not very good at estimating the actual width. No, I don't smell a mildewy smell. When you say the root flair, what do you mean? What I did with the mulch was to make if flat closer to the tree--with very little on that flat section--and then build it up as I went out further. Maybe I do have too much. Thank you so much for your help. Do you think I should have removed the burlap? Interestingly enough, we have had some big rains over the past few days and the tree is looking a bit better--however, I did tell my neighbor not to water it (and not to water from the top--as he tends to like to hose the leaves of trees also). I also made sure there was virtually no mulch at this point around the tree trunk/base, itself--as I was worried about that--reading something about dogwood trees suffocating.

If you feel that I need to remove the burlap, I will--How much of the top of the root ball/dirt ball should have been above ground when I planted it. I was thinking that it was something like two inches or so should be above ground.

I just read the "falling pine tree" thread. What fantastic information. Well, I understand what a root flair is now--and I'm going home today--moving all the mulch and looking to see if I can see the root flair. Maybe my tree is planted too deep, in fact. Great information in that thread!

Thank you.