Struggling oak trees
I’m often sent to sites to discuss trees because I’m the only ISA certified arborist on staff. But when I showed up for a meeting several weeks ago, I had no idea what it was about.
Once the two ladies of a certain age had assembled, they simply pointed to the Pin oaks (Quercus palustris) lining their street and asked me why they were struggling?
Great, on-the-spot diagnosis is my specialty. Not! It’s like going to your family doctor and asking her for instant diagnosis without any examinations or blood tests.
Get your story straight
Now, here I openly admit that I wasn’t ready to spill out plausible reasons. I told them it was very difficult for me to pinpoint exact causes just by looking at the trees. So, they rudely dismissed me and this hesitation would later complicate things for me. More on that in my next blog.
Potential causes
The Pin oaks on the street are fine; just their crowns aren’t as full as they could be. Two dead specimens along a pathway showed intact strings which means the trees were most likely poorly planted.
We now know that only the tree should be placed in the planting hole. No burlap, plastic, wires cages or strings. The strings girdle the tree as it grows. It’s like getting strangled: food from the leaves can’t reach the roots and the tree declines. Eventually it dies and must be removed and replaced. In this case, they will be replaced by baby Pin Oaks.
Another obvious problem is lack of soil volume. The oaks are planted by driveways and surrounded by pavement and lawns. This means that the actual soil volume available may not be sufficient for mature oaks to thrive. This is a common problem for trees in urban areas.
One solution
Since I didn’t impress the ladies in the meeting, they called in Bartlett Tree Experts. (It’s common for tree companies to handle tree work over 12 feet or so.) Bartlett Tree Experts can’t really increase soil volume so they used probes to pump liquid fertilizer into the root zones.
I tried to find out what exactly the liquid fertilizer was but it’s a secret recipe. Of course it is. The ladies also declined to give me a copy of the management plan they paid Bartlett to create for them. That’s too bad.
Conclusion
If you can, find out what your tree meeting is about so you can prepare. It’s perfectly normal – but also insane- for clients to expect tree health diagnosis on the spot. I dare you to try it at your doctor’s or car mechanic’s office.
Poor tree planting and lack of soil volume are two huge problems for urban trees and they often lead to decline; and eventual death of the trees.
