Dying mature hardwood tree

[smridge]

Help! This is a new construction and we only have one tree! We have been in our home for about a year and last year the hardwood did great! Within the last month our mature hardwood has leaves falling off as if it were fall. It still has quite a few leaves that are still green but a majority of the leaves have fallen off and have turned brown. My neighbor's tree is doing fine and is green and growing. There has been bugs on the trunk of it and also small flies. Are the bugs killing it and if so what can I put on it that will kill the bugs and not the tree. We did reposition a sprinkler head to hit the tree about a month ago thinking that maybe a extra watering would help with our 95+ degree weather.
Thanks!

 

[treeseer]

We did reposition a sprinkler head to hit the tree about a month ago thinking that maybe a extra watering would help with our 95+ degree weather.

It's going to 100 in my part of NC today.

Water the roots, not the stem.

Sounds like your tree was killed by your builder. See Avoiding and Treatment in the link below. If you're in the Triangle area email me.

 

[smridge]

Hundreds of bugs on my tree

Is there anything that I can use on my tree to kill bugs? There are literally hundereds of black/yellow striped bugs that are crawling all over my tree. The leaves are falling off, so I don't know if they are killing it slowly.... Is there any kind of product that would be safe to spray on the tree to get rid of the bugs without harming my tree...

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Japanese beetles? Can you post a picture?

 

[treeseer]

what makes you think the bugs are harming your tree?

You need an arborist, not insecticide.

 

[whitenack]

Lets figure out the problem before we just start getting out the band-aids. In other words, lets figure out if the bugs are to blame, or if maybe something else is to blame, before we start applying solutions to a problem that might not be right.

New construction + mature tree = dead tree (usually)

Where is the tree in relation to the construction?

Was there heavy machinery driving under it?

Is soil pushed up under/against it?

Posting pictures will help.

 

[smridge]

Pictures of tree!

Here are pictures of my tree! The tree was not in that great of condition when we built our home. We did try to clean as much growth around the tree away from the bottom. Our yard is at a slope and the tree is in the middle of the slope! As I said before, we never had any problem with the tree up until about a month ago. It has always looked full and green! About a year ago a tractor did graze the side of the trunk, but it looks as though that has pretty much repaired and if this was even an issue would'nt the tree have shown signs of problems before now? This lot was full of junk and overgrown brush and this was basically the only salvagable tree that we could keep! As far as the bugs, this might sound crazy but they are only on the trunk of the tree in the evening. I don't know if the bugs are harming the tree... I just don't see how they could be helpful, if there are dozens of them. They are not the Japanese beetles, but look almost like a wasp but they really just crawl all around the trunk of the tree. There are at least 100 of these bugs. Nothing new has really changed at all around the tree (as far as landscaping)View attachment 36264

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View attachment 36269! By the way, just by looking at the photos can anyone identify the tree? Someone told us that it was a cherry hardwood tree....

 

[treeseer]

"We did try to clean as much growth around the tree away from the bottom. This lot was full of junk and overgrown brush and this was basically the only salvagable tree that we could keep! Nothing new has really changed at all around the tree (as far as landscaping)"

looks like you added turfgrass and canna lilies, which compete with the tree roots. But the 'cleaning' of the other growth pretty much killed the roots anyway. An arborist on site can go in and select native trees and shrubs to retain, and protect them during construction. A black cherry is seldom kept due to disease pressures.

if you're near the Triangle, I have good trees at good prices.

 

[smridge]

Actually we did'nt add the canna lillies they just started growing and we did'nt remove them! We actually live near the beaches in Wilmington.. But Thanks for all the help and suggestions. We recently planted about 5 Leyland Cypress and a couple of flowering bushes along the outside of our property line for screening. They are only about 3 feet tall so I don't know if I am even going to replace this tree once we decide what to do next. Thanks Again..

 

[treeseer]

You need a tree for shade and shelter! Live oaks are almost hurricane-proof.

 

[smridge]

o.k. Thanks for the suggestion. We sure need something that will grow tall and provide alot of shade as well as withstand a hurricane...