r/sfwtrees

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.

For context, I live in North TX with clay soil that is a major pain in the butt. I also do not get to choose to have a tree or where to put it. My HOA required a tree in the front patch of grass. About 5-6 weeks ago I had an eastern redbud planted which replaced a 2 year old white oak that was unfortunately ran over by a delivery driver. Before the white oak was hit, it had shown signs of health decline which all make sense now.

When my redbud tree was planted, it came in healthy, thick, and green. I was pretty regularly watering it 1-2 times a week depending on weather and temperature as we’ve had a mixture of 90+ degree weeks and lots of rain. A few weeks ago I had concerns my redbud was being overwatered as its health began to rapidly decline. I decided to turn of all irrigation to the tree, buy a soil tester, and planned to only manually water. Everyday I would test the soil and to my surprise the moisture never dropped — even 7 days since my last watering, the soil still read 95+% moisture. I knew a hot weekend was coming with 3+ days in a row of 91-92 degree heat so I was hoping it would help dry the soil up but to my surprise, it was still moist and my tree was looking worse. I decided to dig down and around the crown/roots to investigate and it was wet - very wet. The further I dug, the more water I found. At this point, I’ve realized something is very wrong. I called the city first to verify there were no leaks. I completely turned off the water to my irrigation and the city tested not only my meter but both of my neighbors and determined there are no leaks on the city side. I have completely cut off the water to my irrigation and double-checked by watching my meter and I’ve determined I do not have any leak in the irrigation system.

I can sit down and pull all that water out or shove a towel into the hole and absorb it all just to watch it refill back up in 10-20 seconds. Even if I get to a point where it’s refilling slow enough that I think I got it all, I can dig another inch or two and find more never ending water. At this point I have what seems like an aquifer located underneath my tree and I do not know where the water is coming from. When my tree was installed, the landscaping company said my drainage was terrible with all the clay soil they dug out what seemed like an extra foot of clay underneath the tree and replaced it with a soil mixture to promote drainage. Do I need to dig this thing up and replant but this time above the grass turf/grade so it’s not pooling at the crown? French drains more than likely aren’t an option. I have no clue what to do here but my tree is drowning.

*More info: When the city came out, they chlorine tested the water underneath my tree to determine if it was due to a leak on their end. They said there wasn’t enough chlorine to claim it was from a leak as they heavily chlorinate their water. The water itself also smells bad — almost like raw septic water but just moldy water so it leads me to think it’s been sitting there for a while.

TLDR; Tree is taking a 24/7 bath in a perpetually filling pool of water underneath coming from god knows where. I have no irrigation leaks and city confirmed myself nor my neighbors have leaks at the meters. I’m worried my tree is going to literally die from drowning. It seems as if my yard under my grass is holding a mess ton of water that is draining into my tree because it’s a low point.

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Are these Poison Ivy ? I saw them in my back yard. Number on each pic because i think there are different kinds.

I have a pretty well established desert willow in my yard. See first two photos. I rent and was given no care instructions for this thing. It is... big and bushy and seems to be extremely healthy. It has multiple trunks around the main one. It's gotten bigger in the past two years since I moved here. The only time I've done any pruning was a few branches that were annoying and getting in the way of my Halloween decor.

But... I see my neighbors down the street all have theirs pruned fairly aggressively (third photo).

So now I'm wondering... am I doing it wrong? Do I need to prune this thing back? Is it too big? Do I need to cut it back? Is it going to overwhelm and eat my whole house?

Our neighborhood is fairly sterile and bare, especially for my tastes, so I like trying to encourage a habitat that can attract birds and other animals (which is why I haven't done much pruning really). It's a very, very hot desert, too. And I embrace whatever natives I can get to grow.

So, if I don't need to make it as brutally sparse as the neighbors', I'd generally prefer that. But I also don't know this plant, so I'm open to a middle ground and any care tips would be appreciated!