Tops of young maple trees dying...Why?!

[treerex]

I have eight maples trees planted on the sides of an office building. Four trees on one side and four on the other. On one side the trees are doing well, on the other all four trees have lost the top4-6 feet (looks like they are just dying from the top down) The trees where planted all at the same time using a tree spade. I am wondering if the roots are possibly girdling on the dying trees. The building is one story and only 50 feet across so there is neglible difference in the living conditions for the two sets of trees. Anyone with any ideas would be very welcome to comment. Thanks Kerry

 

[Treeman14]

Kerry,
Which side of the building are the dying trees on? I'm thinking maybe the direct sun or reflected heat off the building is frying them. Also, how big are they, height and caliper? Are they irrigated? Have you checked the soil conditions?

 

[treerex]

Maple trees

Hi Brett, The maples dying maples are on the East side of the bldg and the unaffected trees are on the West side. They are approx. 6 years old X 20'high X6-8" diameter. I had soil samples analyzed and got the following results:
Water PH 7.3, Phosphorus 4 (pounds per acre ?), potassium 141 (pounds per acre) Lime was not recommended at this time. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Dig down and check to see if there are girdling roots.

Also look to see if it is verticilium wilt. Both problems will cause the tree to die from the top down.

After youve been doing this for a while you will look at a dead top and immidialy look for problems in the root zone.

Root grafts to root, trunk can graft to trunk, but they are to dissimilar of tissue to graft to one another. So is a tree is planted too deep, or the grade has bee raised over the trunk the encircling roots can end up in the zone of trunk expantion, eventualy choking the tree. Haure of MN has data showing that a tree just a few inches too deep has a near total chance of early mortality from girdling root.

 

[treerex]

Girdling roots

The girdling roots were my first suspicion as well. Is there anything that can be done for that particular problem? Or are the trees doomed? They look awfully bad anyway...especially compared to trees on the other side of the building. Thanks for the info guys!
peace
Kerry

 

[Jay Banks]

With a soil Ph of 7.3 you may be to high for red maple!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

with girdling roots it depends on how bad the are. I know a guy who has been doing it for a few yeat=rs and claims that he has had some success with root pruning even with severe compression.

it is worth a try, blast the dirt a way and use a sawsall to do the root pruning.

If there is drastic decline in the tips, then I would say they are in real bad shape. Also I agree with Jay on the pH.

Look at the trees and ask if they are realy worth regular applicaions of amendments.

 

[treerex]

maples

I'm gonna see about renting an air spade and compressor to get down to check out the roots. I'll keep you guys posted as to the results. Thank you very much for your opinions and input on the matter. I truly appreciate your help.
Peace
kerry

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

If it is just a few trees try Mike Maas's method of a backpack blower and handtools first. If not call the AirSpade people for siomeone in your area with one, there aren't many out there yet.

 

[treerex]

i really appreciate all the input from everyone. And Mr. Sanborn, I'll take your advice on the blower and handtools. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
Peace