Tree Identification Help?

[canyonblue737]

As part of a builder installed landscape we had two "ornamental" trees put in as part of a package. Not totally sure what this is... it has been suggested they are dwarf river birch trees but that is hard to believe as they are somewhat pricey trees and this package with shrubs, perennials, and 2 trees was decidedly "cheap."

Here they are (pics from last year and this year): http://www.flickr.com/photos/corsi/sets/72157604698118823/

Thanks guys... lots of questions coming from me as I add to the trees in the landscape.

 

[(WLL)]

sarvis holly/serviceberry holly

sarvis holly is what im thinking, soon the bigdogs will chime in and we will know for sure

 

[canyonblue737]

not very familiar with sarvis holly but this tree has tons of peeling bark as seen in the picture which i don't think sarvis holly has. i can't recall it flowering or having berries, but i am not 100% sure based on the first "weak" (few leaves last year) season last year. The trees are in *desperate* need of ppruning but i will wait till the fall dormant season and seek more guidance before starting.

 

[Kate Butler]

???

WTF is up with the burlap still tied around the multiple trunks of these items?? Every install that I've ever seen spec'ed REQUIRES that the top half of the basket be removed (cut and folded back) and the burlap loosened and/or sliced after being untied at the ground level. I forsee fungal and/or microbial activity under this burlap and larger problems down the road from this shoddy install.

Keep in mind that it can take YEARS for this sort of damage to manifest and by then the installer will say "it's not my fault".

 

[canyonblue737]

*all* the builder trees were left like this. the "warranty" was 1 year which is now up and of course this season one tree is dead and i am replacing it.

i got these 2 "mystery" ornamentals, a street tree maple of some sort which i think is perhaps a norway?, a red maple that was the one that died, and a thornless honey locust. so far these ornamentals, the one maple, and the locust are doing well and leafing out but all have visible burlap just above the mulch line. last year i asked around at ######### and to a local nursery and they suggested i might do more harm than good to try to cut away the top part of the burlap and should at this point just leave as is.

thoughts on what to do at this point?

PS: not sure why i got the "###" but it was the name of another major garden website forum.

 

[Kate Butler]

OK, here's what you do

If you can (carefully) dig an inch or two below grade (just proximate to the burlap) - use a trowel, NOT a shovel. Remove (unwind) the burlap that's wrapped round & round - very carefully, then take a razor blade knife and peel away the burlap just like peeling layers off an onion. Cut away wherever possible and pray that it's NOT nylon burlap. I have a client in NY, whose install was over 20 years ago and the burlap is still in place because the installer did exactly what yours did AND it's nylon/plastic burlap. Needless to say, the trees are suffering and there is no easy fix - some are HUGE. Oh, BTW, this particular install was over a quarter million ... this problem is not limited to fly by night installers.

 

[canyonblue737]

I will do this in about a week. I am having 4 trees delivered and planted, 2 Eastern Redbuds (1 multi-stem, 1 single), a Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, and a Merrill Magnolia. When they plant them they will mulch out the new drip lines and I will see what mulch they used and redo my existing drip lines (which need new mulch and defining) and try to **CAREFULLY** resolve the issue with the burlap (I believe it is not nylon.)

That said... anyone have other ideas on what trees these are in the pictures?

 

[capetrees]

From the bark I see at the base of one of the pictures, it seems to be a type of Birch, perhaps a clump river birch (betula nigra) just budding out. They have a more silver brown papery bark as oppose3d to the normal white bark of the typical birch. Anyone else?

 

[buzz sawyer]

As part of a builder installed landscape we had two "ornamental" trees put in as part of a package. Not totally sure what this is... it has been suggested they are dwarf river birch trees but that is hard to believe as they are somewhat pricey trees and this package with shrubs, perennials, and 2 trees was decidedly "cheap."

Here they are (pics from last year and this year): http://www.flickr.com/photos/corsi/sets/72157604698118823/

Thanks guys... lots of questions coming from me as I add to the trees in the landscape.

Looks like River or maybe Yellow Birch. If so, I hope they are dwarfs. In addition to the burlap, it also looks like they are planted too deep.

 

[treeseer]

Click the link below and go to Planting. If you do not make sure they are planted right, it will not matter what their name is.

The advice you get to leave the burlap alone is not reasonable. There are many stories just like Kate's; horrible waste due to unnatural planting methods.

 

[S Mc]

I'm going to back up Kate and Treeseer here on getting the burlap off and away from the trunks on all the trees planted. This is so important I can't stress it enough! IMHO, to be told to leave it be was extremely poor advice (putting it mildly).

Many times when the trees are balled in burlap this mounds dirt up above the root crown or graft hiding this delicate junction. This can result in trees being inadvertently planted too deep. So I STRONGLY encourage you to excavate (carefully as Kate mentioned) around all the trees. Not only pull the burlap away from the trunk but find the graft or root flare (whichever applies) and get that exposed. At this point that may mean you end up with "tree wells" around the trees but better that than trees that stagnate and/or decline and die far before their time.

D Mc and I just finished an inventory on an estate that graphically illustrates the reprocussions of planting too deep. Those that were had very little increase in caliper in the last 16 years! These trees were of much less vigor than those that had been planted correctly. So, better late than never to correct this problem.

In looking up the type of tree the clump is...birches have saw-toothed leaves and these in the photos are smooth margined, also birches are alternate not opposite (leaves in pictures are opposite). So I am thinking Syringa (lilac) Both the Japanese and Peking varieties have dark bark.

(I am a huge proponent of mulching out to the drip line but do make sure the mulch isn't mounded up around the trunk.)

Sylvia

 

[canyonblue737]

ok let's see if i got this right, i will careful dig around the mulch line to expose the burlap to the top of the rootball. I will then peel back/off the burlap using a razor blade to the height of the rootball... so kind of the top 1/3 of a typical "burlap" ball.

how can i tell that the ornamentals or any tree for that matter is buried too deep?

the trees i have coming are from a very large and reputable nursery, all the existing stuff is by a contractor supplier only and cheap as all get out so you see the issue.

 

[S Mc]

Basically, yes.

Carefully expose the top of the burlap and, as Kate said, peal it away as in pealing an onion. Follow it out to where it starts going down into the ground. Cut it off at that point. WITH A DISPOSABLE KNIFE...it is going to dull fast. (Obviously, it would have been better to be able to cut the burlap and any wire cage off 1/3 to 1/2 of the root ball but that is much more excavating. And that is what should be done for the new plantings.)

Now that you have the top of the burlap taken off, go back to the trunk and, with gloved hands or small trowel if needed, scrape the dirt away until you can see a widening of the trunk and/or hopefully roots. These should be bigger than fine, threadlike (adventitious) roots that may have already started to grow. This will be the root crown area and should be no deeper than ground level. (If this is significantly lower than your grass, you may have to put in a barrier out at the drip line to maintain the proper level. Then you can reapply your organic mulch (thicker 2" or so out at the grass line getting thinner towards the trunk).

Sylvia

 

[ATH]

For the excavation, a plastic trowell will work. But an AirKnive or AirSpade would be best...