new river birch leaves yellowing

[Brian Dawson]

We had a river birch planted last Friday. The arborists told us to water every other day with about 2 five gallon buckets. We have done that, however, the some of the leaves are yellowing and falling off of the trees.

What to do?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Was the tree recently dug from a nursery, or was it dug in the spring and balled in burlap or potted?

 

[Brian Dawson]

the tree came from a nursery.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

That's what i thought.
When you dig a tree, most of the roots are cut off. August is hot, a time when trees need roots. The tree can't keep up with it's needs and will lose leaves.
You should poke your finger into the soil ball that came with the tree and make sure it's moist. Studies have shown that the soil around a root ball can be wet, and the ball itself bone dry.
If that's ok, the only thing you can do is wait and see how it goes.
If the leaf loss is about 20% I would not worry, that is expected. If it gets too much more than that, call the nursery and let them know.

 

[Brian Dawson]

it IS about 20%. I am now relieved. Nonetheless, the tree is guaranteed for a year by the nursery - but digging and re-digging can get old.

thanx for your quick response.

 

[Dan F]

Something tells me that the tree was not just dug. Fall digging (in our area) does not usually start until around the middle of October, usually begining with ash trees. I'm not sure when birch trees are dug.

However, if the tree was just dug, I highly doubt that an arborist would have planted it! Any self-respecting arborist would have either walked away from the job, or convinced the homeowner to wait until a better time. The only time I have ever dug a tree out of dormancy (or close enough to it) was 2 years ago. Big Jap. maple that either needed to be dug, or it was getting cut down. I did it, but didn't like it. I'm proud to say that the tree didn't hardly loose a leaf and you would never know it was dug in the middle of July!

With all this being said though, we just planted a river birch about 2 weeks ago. It too had yellowing leaves. It was potted (spare the argument, Mike, I know! I don't *like* to plant potted trees!) and we had bought it to use at a garden show this last spring.

Birch trees need a fair amount of water, especially this time of year. You will have a hard time over-watering it.

HTH.


Dan

 

[Brian Dawson]

pat yourself on the back again.

The last sentence was helpful