kruegerc2006
New Member
On June 20th we had 4 trees planted in our residential yard. The trees consisted of 2 Red Maple, 1 Pin Oak and 1 River Birch clump. Right from the start I was concerned about the way the fellow planted them and now my concern has grown immensely as the trees are, in my opinion, failing.
First the Maples...they came in pots that were about 18" wide and 18" deep (this is how all the trees were potted). The trees are both about 20' tall with trunks about as round as a baseball. The day the trees arrived they looked fine. Soon after planting they were wilted and sad looking. With in about a week we noticed that some of the leaves had begun to turn red and now about 1/4 - 1/3 the leaves on both trees have turned red and continue to be wilted and lifeless looking. As far as details of the planting...He dug the holes with a auger that was about half again as big as the root ball (or the pot the trees came in). They cut the pots off and used a tool of some sort to score up and down the sides of the root ball many times all the way around it. Next they put the tree in the ground and filled in the hole with the native dirt they had removed. When I asked him if he wanted me to bring the hose out he said no that he had watered them well before bringing them and they should not be over watered!?!?! This really concerned me because growing up on a farm anytime we planted a live plant we were certain to give it an abundance of water even at the risk of giving it too much. They staked and tied them with three stakes.
The oak (same size) was planted in the same way and as of this morning, many of the leaves have turned brown. The River Birch (about 10" tall with 3 trunks that are about as round as a golf ball) too was planted the same, however it is looking fairly good. In the last few days some of the leaves have turned a golden color and fallen off, but it does not look wilted.
In the week following the planting we watered well each day. I would estimate we gave them about 5 gallons each, cutting that to every other day after 5 days and lessening the amount to about 3 gallons. When watering I turn the hose to a medium stream and just let it sit on the mulch and saturate it, moving it around a few times. I also mulched them with about 5" of mulch, at first I put the mulch right up to the trunk, but after reading many post on this site, moved the mulch back away from the trunk.
I have concern that they may be planted too deep but one tree is planted so that about 2 - 3 inches of the original potted dirt is above ground level and it is having the same issues as the other maple. I've used a 10" screw driver to gently probe into the root ball and it is moist. The soil they are planted in is clay with some dark top soil dirt. I have not given them any fertilizer. The yard was sprayed early in the spring for dandelions and weeds. We have a farm field next to our yard that has beans and I believe it was sprayed with something this spring (not our field so uncertain of what was put on it) but that was months ago.
I've read about the possibility of the roots strangling the tree out but I question whether this could be the issue because these trees looked great when we bought them and planted them. Also, what are the odds of it happening on all three at the same time? Would a day or three in the ground allow that much difference where the roots are concerned (as far as strangling?) I tend to think the trees were shocked to all get out on the trip here. They were in the back of a pick up with the tops hanging over the end (cushioned under the trunks where they touched the tailgate of the truck). The River Birch is much smaller in stature and did not hang over the bed and so had a more protected ride.
I'm disappointed that I didn't take more time to research and prepare for these trees and now I'm just hoping that they survive. I have planted a willow and variegated Maple in the same yard and both have done well, although the var. Maple is growing slowly, it is growing and seems well otherwise. The Willow has grown in leaps and bounds in the 3 years we've had it in the ground. I should add that both the Willow and Var. Maple were smaller than the trees we had planted on June 20th.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I will try to get photos posted today.
Thanks in advance.
First the Maples...they came in pots that were about 18" wide and 18" deep (this is how all the trees were potted). The trees are both about 20' tall with trunks about as round as a baseball. The day the trees arrived they looked fine. Soon after planting they were wilted and sad looking. With in about a week we noticed that some of the leaves had begun to turn red and now about 1/4 - 1/3 the leaves on both trees have turned red and continue to be wilted and lifeless looking. As far as details of the planting...He dug the holes with a auger that was about half again as big as the root ball (or the pot the trees came in). They cut the pots off and used a tool of some sort to score up and down the sides of the root ball many times all the way around it. Next they put the tree in the ground and filled in the hole with the native dirt they had removed. When I asked him if he wanted me to bring the hose out he said no that he had watered them well before bringing them and they should not be over watered!?!?! This really concerned me because growing up on a farm anytime we planted a live plant we were certain to give it an abundance of water even at the risk of giving it too much. They staked and tied them with three stakes.
The oak (same size) was planted in the same way and as of this morning, many of the leaves have turned brown. The River Birch (about 10" tall with 3 trunks that are about as round as a golf ball) too was planted the same, however it is looking fairly good. In the last few days some of the leaves have turned a golden color and fallen off, but it does not look wilted.
In the week following the planting we watered well each day. I would estimate we gave them about 5 gallons each, cutting that to every other day after 5 days and lessening the amount to about 3 gallons. When watering I turn the hose to a medium stream and just let it sit on the mulch and saturate it, moving it around a few times. I also mulched them with about 5" of mulch, at first I put the mulch right up to the trunk, but after reading many post on this site, moved the mulch back away from the trunk.
I have concern that they may be planted too deep but one tree is planted so that about 2 - 3 inches of the original potted dirt is above ground level and it is having the same issues as the other maple. I've used a 10" screw driver to gently probe into the root ball and it is moist. The soil they are planted in is clay with some dark top soil dirt. I have not given them any fertilizer. The yard was sprayed early in the spring for dandelions and weeds. We have a farm field next to our yard that has beans and I believe it was sprayed with something this spring (not our field so uncertain of what was put on it) but that was months ago.
I've read about the possibility of the roots strangling the tree out but I question whether this could be the issue because these trees looked great when we bought them and planted them. Also, what are the odds of it happening on all three at the same time? Would a day or three in the ground allow that much difference where the roots are concerned (as far as strangling?) I tend to think the trees were shocked to all get out on the trip here. They were in the back of a pick up with the tops hanging over the end (cushioned under the trunks where they touched the tailgate of the truck). The River Birch is much smaller in stature and did not hang over the bed and so had a more protected ride.
I'm disappointed that I didn't take more time to research and prepare for these trees and now I'm just hoping that they survive. I have planted a willow and variegated Maple in the same yard and both have done well, although the var. Maple is growing slowly, it is growing and seems well otherwise. The Willow has grown in leaps and bounds in the 3 years we've had it in the ground. I should add that both the Willow and Var. Maple were smaller than the trees we had planted on June 20th.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I will try to get photos posted today.
Thanks in advance.
