Transplanted elms dying

[geoweaser]

I planted four 15+ foot tall B&B Princeton elms last December, two of which are now (as of July) rapidly dying: one dropped all leaves and the other dropped 95% of its leaves. These trees were on sale, which might suggest they were at the nursery for a while, where they became established. I suspect too much of the roots were cut during excavation at the nursery to support the canopy and the trees gave up or are in the process of doing so. I've tried watering with a constant drip over a period of days, but this proved unhelpful at least so it appears. What should I do? Would it help the trees to remove taller branches? Thanks for your help!

 

[Raintree]

What did you put in the planting hole any soil amendments?

 

[geoweaser]

What did you put in the planting hole any soil amendments?

Unfortunately I didn't amend the soil, but have fertilized a couple of times since with milorganite.

 

[Raintree]

It's good that you didn't add anything to the planting medium. No elm cultivar is completely immune to Dutch Elm Disease. I would want to rule out this possibility first.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

By the way, there are like 20 Millvilles on Google maps. Can you give us a more specific ific region?

 

[geoweaser]

Good to hear (regarding lacking any soil amendment).

Yes. I didn't realize how that region field was used when I signed up. I'm in Millville, Kentucky.

 

[coldfront1]

Did it turn bright yellow first?

 

[BBill]

I planted four 15+ foot tall B&B Princeton elms last December, two of which are now (as of July) rapidly dying: one dropped all leaves and the other dropped 95% of its leaves. These trees were on sale, which might suggest they were at the nursery for a while, where they became established. I suspect too much of the roots were cut during excavation at the nursery to support the canopy and the trees gave up or are in the process of doing so. I've tried watering with a constant drip over a period of days, but this proved unhelpful at least so it appears. What should I do? Would it help the trees to remove taller branches? Thanks for your help!

The Princeton Elm is a good, fast growing choice as it is resistant to Dutch Elm Disease. I do not think that Dutch Elm is your problem as it normally takes out the tree one branch at a time and can be pruned out from lightly infected trees.

It could be that the trees got planted too deep. Here's a good review of proper transplanting and why the planting depth is so important. https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/summary-planting.shtml

Your concern about the roots might be the next best place to look for problems. Unfortunately, many nursery grown trees started their lives in pots and the oldest roots might have gotten pot bound and could be choking off the flow of nutrients in the tree. I would gently dig up around the base, wash away lots of dirt, and look at the growth patterns of the roots. (Great muddy project for kids on a hot day) Ideally you will see new roots all growing out from the base like spokes on a wheel. If needed, you must cut out girdling roots and then tease the remaining roots into that spoke like pattern and replace the dirt.

Consider also checking with the nursery about any support that they might offer and what their warranty terms are.

 

[Raintree]

Symptoms of improper planting depth are chronic not acute.

 

[BBill]

Symptoms of improper planting depth are chronic not acute.

I agree, it takes some time to suffocate a tree, but I'm out of other ideas.

 

[Raintree]

In my experience the number one reason a new transplant succumbs is water management issues. Either the uninformed tree owner floods the plant or neglects it.

 

[geoweaser]

Thanks for your input so far. I suspect the problem with these trees comes from a combination of uninformed tree owner neglecting a tree and a minimal root ball (these were all ball and burlap; not from pots). Both trees are now without leaves. Should I bother watering them or are they lost causes? Any other ideas to try?

 

[BBill]

Consider checking with the nursery about any support that they might offer and what their warranty terms are.
These will grow rather large, so maybe the two remaining trees might be enough.
Good luck.

 

[geoweaser]

Thank you. Unfortunately, I purchased these trees on sale, so there is no warranty, but looking into other support they may offer is a good idea.
Regarding the remaining two: I noticed some yellow leaves on one, so it's clearly stressed. I have watered them, but not in a systematic way. Do you have any recommendations for watering procedures? By the way, I have mulched out to the drip lines of all 4 of them.

 

[geoweaser]

Sorry, I missed the question about the leaves turning yellow before dropping. Yes, they did turn yellow first.

 

[BBill]

Check out the basics about mulch & watering here, and then follow the articles' links for more in depth info.
https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/irrigation.shtmlhttps://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/over-mulching.shtml
For most things trees this is my go to site. https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/index.shtml

 

[mikewhite85]

It seems like transplant stress to me. It's also been very hot and dry.

It's important for the initial hole the tree is dug in to be a lot larger than the size of the ball, we usually do at least 3x. A smaller hole leads to a number of issues.

I concur with the comments relating to water management as well.

 

[geoweaser]

Thanks for your counsel, everyone.