Historic American Beech Decline

[jbrukardt]

Over the past 5 years ago, I have noticed a serious decline in the absolutely enormous American Beech on my property. this tree was a good portion of why i purchased the property, and I hate to see it in decline.

The tree has an approximately 180 foot crown, and branches all the way to the ground on 3 sides. The diameter of the trunk is 4.5 feet, and the tree is about 100 feet tall.

Soil conditions are sandy, but recently augmented with 12 inches of mulch to retain moisture, and augment organic matter across the entire root zone.

In Fall of 2014, a nutrient treatment was applied by the arborist via hydro injection based on a soil sample.
In spring of 2016, additional tests were done to check for two lined chestnut borer, possibly anthracnose leaf disease and possibly root disease. All came back negative, the decline has actually gotten worse in the past 3 months since those tests.

The arborist recommended providing the tree with additional water, but was unable to indicate how much.

Looking for a second opinion or three. Pictures of the tree, both in 2010 when it was healthy with a dense canopy, and now are below.

Current: https://i.imgur.com/2QB1y3o.jpg

2010: https://i.imgur.com/lkIA6j9.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8hZtM71.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8hZtM71.jpg



Possible cause of damage over years?

#57 gravel, and asphalt millings driving installed 15% into root zone on one side, permeable driveway.
Bobcat cleared leaf and broken branch debris underneath tree in 2013, no digging, just soil scrape

 

[rarefish383]

What part of MD are you in? We have several members here based in MD. If you look in the top right of your screen you will see your "inbox", I sent you the name of the Arborist I would call. Can't tell by the picture, but how aggressive was the soil scraping of the bobcat. Has the debris been sitting under the tree for 3 years? When did you first notice the decline? A change of the water table of 3 inches can kill the tree. That means no backfill piled under the tree. A foot of mulch is way too much. How big of an area under the tree is mulched? It can cause problems from increased heat, mold, fungi, and water table change. We have had enough rain most of the year that I have to cut my grass every 4 or 5 days, usually I mow every 8 to 10 days, so I don't think it's a natural water problem. It may be a created water problem. More pics of conditions under the tree would help and pics of the leaves up close, Joe.

 

[ATH]

rarefish has some great info there.

Have you (or the arborist) looked at Beech Bark Disease? https://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/bbd/

You said they did a "test" for two-lined chestnut borer. What did that entail?

I'd also say that in 2010 that canopy wasn't as dense as Beech can get...so there may have been signs on decline then.

54" diameter trunk is pretty old. I'm not saying there isn't anything that can be done - that would be hard to say without looking at it. But you need to understand that trees this old are more sensitive to minor soil changes, and they are slower to respond to improvements and treatments. Hopefully you can get somebody out to give you a better plan forward!

 

[jbrukardt]

What part of MD are you in? We have several members here based in MD. If you look in the top right of your screen you will see your "inbox", I sent you the name of the Arborist I would call. Can't tell by the picture, but how aggressive was the soil scraping of the bobcat. Has the debris been sitting under the tree for 3 years? When did you first notice the decline? A change of the water table of 3 inches can kill the tree. That means no backfill piled under the tree. A foot of mulch is way too much. How big of an area under the tree is mulched? It can cause problems from increased heat, mold, fungi, and water table change. We have had enough rain most of the year that I have to cut my grass every 4 or 5 days, usually I mow every 8 to 10 days, so I don't think it's a natural water problem. It may be a created water problem. More pics of conditions under the tree would help and pics of the leaves up close, Joe.

Hi rarefish, thank you very much for the information, i did get your message.

I measured the mulch today, which is 100% around the tree, and its condensed down to about 4 inches. The reasoning the arborist gave was that there was near no organic matter in the soil, and the mulch would help decompose into that. Ill take some pictures of the conditions under the tree and post them here.

The bobcat scraping was not too aggressive, certainly not digging, but skimming to remove loose branches and debris. The debris was many years accumulation.

I've attached the arborists soil sample report

Im in anne arundel county maryland, out by annapolis.

 

[rarefish383]

Another problem with the mulch is it can get so dense it will make a layer almost like a sheet of plastic and not let any air or water through. Something like leaf compost may have been better, it doesn't compact down like a piece of plywood. Often when putting down mulch in the spring I'll find pieces that have have gotten so hard they are as stiff as plywood and have to be broken up or tilled. The company I gave you does work in that area, Joe.

 

[ATH]

You may also want to find somebody to incorporate the organic material into the ground with an AirKnife or AirSpade. Mulch that has been compacted down to 4" is certainly too thick. Break that up with a garden rake. Does it smell funky when you do?

 

[jbrukardt]

You may also want to find somebody to incorporate the organic material into the ground with an AirKnife or AirSpade. Mulch that has been compacted down to 4" is certainly too thick. Break that up with a garden rake. Does it smell funky when you do?

nope, its mostly dry, and looks largely like when i put it down. To be clear, this is actually wood chips, not "mulch" per se, as in shredded mulch.

 

[jbrukardt]

New pictures, and dug up the wood chips. No bad smells, a few mushrooms on the surface here and there, but when you dig down the soil (just dug with a stick and my hands) there is equal moisture all the way to the base right after the rain this morning. The "white" wood chips are not dry, theyre just bleached.

Unfortunately not much decomposition yet, maybe 1 inch towards the bottom is starting to break up.

 

[Toronado3800]

In this picture, https://imgur.com/2QB1y3o, is there a big mound built up around the tree and if so for how long has it been there? Trees do not like their roots covered.

 

[jbrukardt]

In this picture, https://imgur.com/2QB1y3o, is there a big mound built up around the tree and if so for how long has it been there? Trees do not like their roots covered.

The mulch is definitely something that needs to not sit there like that. Its been there about 4 months.

It however, is not up against the root flare in any way, its sitting about 15 feet outside the flare, but certainly is within the drip line and root zone. Full intent is to move it asap (clutch on tractor went out)

 

[jbrukardt]

So................ I have discovered some new information that i believe puts me firmly out of investigation mode and into emergency recovery mode.

It turns out that there were two major damaging events that I was unaware of.

A 30x15 section just under the dripline of the tree to one side was escavated down 4-6 inches to remove a gravel pad.

The entire back side of the tree was rototilled 6 inches deep at the drip line (which also happens to be the property line) in a 6 foot wide swath.

Its almost certain that both these events severed all the fine roots on a minimum of 40% of the tree.

The front side should be undamaged, and the right side has a porous driveway on top of it.

All in all, the root structure of the tree has been severely compromised in the past 4-6 years.



My question now is what to do? I'm going to have the whole area air-spaded/air-knifed to reduce compaction. I'll fertilize the drip line with ultrathive/superthrive after that.

What else can I do to promote root recovery?

 

[ATH]

Consider Cambistat instead of fertilizer. Cambistat enhances fine root growth.

 

[jbrukardt]

Consider Cambistat instead of fertilizer. Cambistat enhances fine root growth.

Can you inform me more about cambistat? Limiting growth even more an an already sparse canopy would seem to limit photosynthesis and energy stores worsening the problem. I understand that cambistat causes more chlorophyll per leaf, but growth inhibitors on a stressed tree scare me a bit

 

[ATH]

Cambistat doesn't reduce photosynthesis. The amount of sugar made by the tree remains about the same. The difference is that the tree is blocked from "spending" its 'normal' proportion of those resources on shoot elongation...the end result is that it spends more on defense compounds and root growth.