How not to kill a tree

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Most weeks, our tree-loving friend Pieter Severynen selects a ‘tree of the week’ and sings it praises. This week, though, Pieter gives us some crucial, life-saving advice on how to keep your trees alive.

Surprise: the three biggest tree killers

After you spend a lot of time selecting your tree, buying it in the nursery, planting it and then carefully nursing it along for a year or so, the last thing you want is for your tree to give up or croak. Follow these easy steps to avoid the three biggest tree killers in Southern California:

1. Weed whackers. In inexperienced hands they are lethal weapons. The rotating string takes big bites out of the tree’s phloem and xylem located under the bark, thus depriving the tree of leaf- manufactured nutrients going down to the roots and water and minerals going up to the leaves. Insects and fungi start feasting on the now undefended wood in the open wound and the tree decays. Prevention: keep an area 18” away from the trunk free from any vegetation; spread mulch on it, but keep the mulch 6” away from the trunk.

2. Planting too deep. Ever-present fungi in the soil attack trees that are planted too deep; they infiltrate the bark and invade underlying tissues. Prevention: after planting and settlement of the soil, the surface of the root ball should be at least 1” above the surrounding terrain. The first main root should be just below the surface of the root ball, so before planting, scrape away enough soil from the surface to expose that first main root. You’ll find that many trees are actually buried too deep in the can.

3. Overwatering. Overwatering kills more trees than drought. Prevention: water infrequently and deeply, never shallowly and every day. Stretch the watering intervals to as many days as possible. Water trees planted in lawn separately if possible; avoid watering the trunk at all. Bonus: fungi need wet soil to thrive, so less water near the trunk means less fungi.

Thanks, Pieter
Email Pieter: plseve@earthlink.net
Photo Credit: Monrovia.com