r/arborist

Snapped this pic a few years ago on a hike. I asked around a little but no one could explain how this happened.
Thought I’d try the great resources in this sub

Hello,

I have just planted two bareroot apple trees (a B10 dwarf Davey, and G969 semi-dwarf Sweet Sixteen). Before anyone asks, the root flare is barely in the ground and is safe and sound.

Since they are so skinny and fragile, I have staked them (the Davey will be staked for life, the Sweet Sixteen for 2-3 years only). I was just wondering if I did it correctly. With the graft it's hard keeping them completely straight, and since they are so skinny, even if I barely attach them to the stake (important so they can sway a bit in the wind) they bend a bit. If I need to do any adjustments I guess the best moment is right now before it's too late, but I'm not completely certain, that's why I'm asking (also I'm trying to see if I can avoid doing the work to fix it...).

Thanks.

Hey all, I just got this Japanese maple for my birthday approx 3 weeks ago and it’s starting to get brownish tips on all the leafs. I water the tree about twice a day when it’s warm out once in the morning around 7 and the same at night. Am I damaging this tree with too much water or not enough? Potentially another issue? Thank you for any tips or advice!

PNW Doug Fir very recently cut. Heard there was rot in the roots but otherwise big healthy old tree. I found this coloration under the bark of a log. I was going to use some chips from the branches…

Thanks

Hoping to get some expert eyes on this. We’re installing a fence in part of our yard as a safe space for our toddler and there‘s a tree sitting right near the property line (fully on our side) that’s creating a routing challenge.

They can’t route it to the left of this tree as it’s beyond our property. They can’t route it to the right of this tree because we have a stone wall (hard to see).

I’ve marked the sections in red in the photo... if we can remove at least the left branch (and maybe the bottom branch) we avoid any issue.

A few questions;

• Is it safe/advisable to cut the marked sections?
• It appears to be the same type of tree growing around/near another tree but I’m unsure if they’re actually the same tree/root system or distinct. Curious if that changes the answer.

We’ve luckily never had to cut trees on our property so trying to do the right thing but also make it toddler safe back there.

Hi guys, long story short I have a Japanese maple that started wilting last year and had a forester come. He did some pruning and fertilized all the trees around the property. Then spring came and more branches were bare. He followed up, said it was the burn from winter and pruned more branches, also fertilized all the trees again and asked for $650 for fertilization application. I don't know much about fertilizers used by professionals but that sounds outrageously expensive for just slow release fertilizers.

I've attached the pic of fertilizer I see, there are <20 such applications in total, don't see different kinds of fertilizers used.

Also attached the pic of the tree bark from last year(apologies forgot to take a more recent pic), looks really similar to Verticillium wilt someone posted.

What is a reasonable price for tree fertilization? Is he BS me on both fertilization and the condition of the tree?

Ty in advance!

I am an amateur gardener and
bought this Emperor One Japanese maple since my husband wanted a red foliage maple and we live in CA so we needed something that can handle a bit of heat and sun. I feel like this plant is looking worse and worse after planting. I planted it at the begining of April and this is what it looks like now (May 19th). It is in a north facing part of my garden but then I noticed it does get afternoon sun. So I had tried to use a cover (on the ground) but I feel like the cover is too heavy? I tried also making it into a canopy by having it sit on the roof but the sun is too Northern of my garden because after 3pm it is in full sun. I do have sword ferns that are right next to it that have been there at least a year before the maple was installed and those looked great last year until it got too hot around June/July. Any tips on what I can do better on?

Noticed this on our Norway maple. I’m concerned as this great big tree is beautiful. What should I do????

My wife and I bought a house, she’s a physician and we’re only visiting the house for another week before we head back to CT (for a month) for her to finish residency. While here we noticed a large amount of dandelions in the backyard which she wanted removed. I went and bought a Scott’s spreader with some weed and feed and admittedly didn’t read the directions nearly as well as I should have. I used it around an Aronia bush, as well as a cherry plum and mulberry tree. Both trees are 12ft tall or more. I’ll post pictures of the mulberry (picture with the yellow slide very visible) and cherry plum (with the slide barely visible) so you can gauge size. It was a single instance of using it yesterday. I read to potentially soak the ground decently to try and dilute it a bit? I’m hopeful that in the worst case they survive with some shock but don’t die. Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙏

I’m located in a St Paul, MN suburb, zone 4b. At the some point, this Bradford pear will be removed in front of our home. Assuming no large limbs drop from it this summer, I will start thinning it and fully remove it in late winter. Likely was planted when the home was built in 1990. The previous owner had landscape fabric around it that I’ve been removing as I’m planting other plants.

I recently came across folks saying they’ve grafted asian pear varieties to the rootstock of Bradford pears. The tree itself is about fifteen feet off the foundation of our home, but as you can see it’s become sizable.

If I were to graft Asian pear scions, could I cut the main stem/trunk to about three feet and attempt grafting there? Would the reduction in canopy keep the root growth in check for a while longer? Or am I better off completely removing it and replacing with a young Asian pear tree a little ways away from where this one is planted?

When a large tree is this close to a home, how much of an issue is it? Is it already too late and the damage underneath has been done? What risks are there to removing the tree vs leaving it and letting the roots continue to grow? The circled part is a root as well, going across the front.

we have a small fir tree in our front yard that seemed perfectly healthy and suddenly at the end of the summer a small section of quills turned brown and that spread throughout the entire tree over the course of 2-3 weeks until then entire tree turned brown and all the quills dropped. The branches still seem flexible. Is the tree dead or if not, is it possible to return it to good health? What can be done, or should it just be cut down at this point?

Northwest ohio

Hello!

Hoping someone can help me out here. We just got a new 18ft Indian Laurel planted, and we were planning on putting a rock ring around it. All landscaping quotes we've gotten also gave a ring... but I have been researching first and found a bunch of people saying this is the ultimate tree killer...

My question is - if we put a rock ring around the tree shortly after planting and before the roots have had time to even stretch out at all... Does this solve the problem since the roots will just grow under it and not be harmed. I have big dogs and I would prefer to keep them away from my tree, and we will likely be putting in turf, so we also need some kind of border/barrier for that.

Good afternoon, one of the landscaper had mentioned that the tree needs pruning otherwise the branches will weigh it down and I would have holes in the middle of the tree.

Is this true and what is the best way to prune them to make them in tiptop shape and covers the backyard to provide privacy

I have this tree in my yard and never knew what kind it is. It has been struggling the past couple of years. The leaves are shriveled up at the top tiny portion where they actually grow in and the trunk has splits with ooze coming out in some parts. The green on the bottom is a bunch of suckers.

One of the boxwood plants is completely dried up. Any idea why this happens and should I treat the other plants around it with any fertilizers? Lastly, Should I take it out and plant a new one or let the neighboring plants grow into the void?

I already tried anti fungal spray as this helped save my apple tree last year but this time, nothing seems to work. They are frequently watered and fertilized.

Hello! We have a tree that has recently become white colored at the bottom. We had a company come out to look at our trees, but the employee that came out was not an arborist despite the website saying they were certified arborists. He said he wasn’t worried because the leaves all looked healthy, but I wanted a second opinion. Thank you!