Help! White Birch Tree turning yellow/dying?

[TreeLoverSC]

Hello, We planted a total of 6 White Birch Trees, 3 in our Front yard and 3 in our Back yard 2 years ago. We planted them within a foot of each other in groupings. About six months ago, one tree in the front and in the back died and when we pulled them out, the roots were filled with termites. For the last six months the four remaining trees have done really well, growing like crazy and gaining about 3 feet in height. We noticed yesterday that on one tree in the back and one tree in the front, the leaves are now turning yellow and have stopped growing while the other two trees are still thriving. Both Thriving trees have little upstarts coming up from the soil around them. Our question is, is this simply an act of survival of the fittest, and are we only going to be left with one tree in the back and one tree in the front? Or is there something else going on which could endanger the healthly trees? We love these trees and would like to save them. We water daily and we did some light fertilization this year, but maybe we should have done more. We live in Southern California which is rough on White Birch anyway, but we have been diligent in watering and keeping them moist with mulch. The trees are yellowing from the inside and the outside of the branches. If you have any ideas that would help save the two turning yellow and prevent problems with the thriving trees, please let us know. Thanks for any advice!

 

[treeseer]

1. post pictures of the branches and also the trunk flare.

2. check New Tree Planting in the link below.

 

[TreeLoverSC]

Here are pictures of yellowing Birch!

Here are the pictures. If you need something better, please let me know.
Thanks for your information on the site.

 

[TreeLoverSC]

Yes the ties are still on there. I will take them off. The bark on the other tree is white, on the tree that is yellowing, the bark is brown almost red. I wondered if it was a different Birch as well because it looks like a River Birch, but the tags said White Birch. We have the same issues with the one that is yellowing in the back. The bark is not white like the one that is thriving. All of these trees came from the same place. Also, our neighbors after seeing our trees, went and bought the same trees, from the same place. They are having the same problem. They planted three, one died last year, they just had a second one die recently, but the one that is left, is thriving.
Thanks...

 

[TreeLoverSC]

Wow...when we got ours in spring of 2003 they were about 4 feet tall but very thin. I didn't realize they got that big. The Birch in yards around here, don't get much taller then ours, and don't get really full. Birch are hard to find here, but we found these in a Nursery...I know River Birch do better in Southern Cal then White Birch, but the Nursery swore they were White Birch. I questioned it when we bought them, because I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and had White Birch trees, and these didn't look very white to me. I even double checked the internet because I swore they were River Birch. Now you just confirmed to me they probably are. What do we do now? What do you think is going on with the yellow leaves? Thanks for responding.

 

[treeseer]

What do we do now? What do you think is going on with the yellow leaves? .

Yellow leaves are often due to physiological problems caused by deep planting, so I repeat:

1. post pictures of the branches and **also the trunk flare**.

2. check New Tree Planting in the link below(to see what a trunk flare is).

You must dig the dirt away until you find the primary roots that come off the trunk. Please do that, and post another picture(s).

Heritage river birch get huge, way too big to put so near a house. If that's what these are, and they were sold as white birch, the nursery has a lot of 'splainin to do, and refunds/replacements to be made.

 

[TreeLoverSC]

ThanKs Treeseer, I will get those pictures for you on Wednesday morning, getting dark right now. My Husband keeps all the tags and info we get on everything we buy for our yard. We pulled out the tags for the Birch Trees and everyone of them says BETULA PENDULA, which is White Birch, so I don't know what to think at this point. Thanks again for your patience and help, I will send correct pictures in the morning.
Thanks again,

 

[treeseer]

We pulled out the tags for the Birch Trees and everyone of them says BETULA PENDULA, which is White Birch, so I don't know what to think at this point. ,

Irf that's what they are, they get ot be 50' high and 25' wide, which doesn't speak well for you rplacement. But I'll bet a nickel your pictures tomorrow show that root issues are at the root of your yellow leaf issue.

 

[TreeLoverSC]

Hi again,
Here are the pictures of the tree flair and branches. I had a hard time, because there was alot of little roots dug up. The tree flair starts about 2 inches under the ground. I was afraid to keep digging because I was afraid of hurting the tree. I started hitting big roots and didn't want to dig them up. The problem with our soil, is it is very hard and it takes forever to soak up water, that is why we have alot of flooding when it rains here. We added stuff recommended by the Nursery to the soil when we first planted, to keep the soil looser. I was afraid to rinse off the roots with water for a better view, because the water will just sit there all day and it would take forever to get a better picture. I will do it though if you think it can help you. Let me know if these helped. I also took a soil sample and the PH was 7 the Nitrogen was B the Phosphoras was D and the Potassium was A . It was an accugrow kit. I don't know if you need that info or not. Thanks!

 

[TreeLoverSC]

PS, the Twist Ties on the tree were not twist ties, they were that green tape like stuff, they came off easy and were not tight on the trees.

 

[TreeLoverSC]

Hi Dan,
We did take off the Burlap Bags.
My Husband is in construction and he was working on a home yesterday who had Birch trees as well, theirs were also turning yellow.
The weird thing is this tree is the only one turning yellow in our yard besides the one in the back yard as well. The other two birches are still all green.
We did notice yesterday that our neighbors Maple Tree is already turning fall colors with reds and yellows,(as much as they can turn in SC) and our Maple Tree, is still bright green and they are only 100 feet apart. (Planted by the City on the roadside of our yards).

So who knows.. maybe we are having an early fall, it hasn't been that hot for us this year and we got more rain this year then Seattle, which is unusual for Southern California.

How about water, would that have anything to do with it? If one tree is getting less water then the other, would that help with it going into Fall colors sooner? I know that sounds weird, but we water our Maple Tree daily and our neighbors never water their Maple Tree. Ours is huge and green, theirs is the same size as ours, but losing it's leaves already and was turning yellow in July? Any chance it's all kind of related?

Thanks,
Pam

 

[TreeLoverSC]

We did a soil test the other day, PH was 7 the Nitrogen was B the Phosphoras was D and the Potassium was A . That is with an Accugrow kit. Also, the amount of water it gets is pretty light daily. The sprinklers go on for about 10 minutes, and by the end of the day, the soil is dry. We deep water about once a week.