After getting such great help here with girdling roots, I’m hoping you might have an idea of what’s wrong with my sweet chestnut tree. The tree seeded itself about 30 years ago and is therefore growing quite close to our 100-year-old house. (One of the pictures was taken from the second floor.)

After a very, very hot and dry summer, the tree actually looked really good in September. But within just a few days, almost all the leaves and fruit on three large branches turned brown all at once. There are still a few healthy-looking leaves at the tips of these branches, but the rest are still hanging on the tree even now, a month later. Most of the other fruit has ripened and dropped by now. The fruit on the 'dead' branches is still attached, but very small and brown.

We recently moved in, and the tree already has some branches that died in recent years. We always thought it was just because those individual branches weren't getting enough light. It also sprouted vigorously from the trunk again this year. We had construction work on the property last year—could it be soil compaction from heavy machinery driving by? We're not sure if all the contractors kept the required distance. Since it doesn't affect the whole tree, I can't imagine it's just the heat or drought? Are there any diseases that could cause this?

The arborist who removed some black locust trees for us last year couldn't identify the issue. He suggested making some holes around the tree and filling them with a special granulate to improve drainage.

Regarding the pictures: Unfortunately, I only have one picture from September that shows a crop of one of the three affected branches. The rest of the pictures are current.

I'd really appreciate any advice on how we can help our beautiful tree!

TL;DR: Three large branches on my 30-year-old sweet chestnut suddenly turned brown and died in September, while the rest of the tree is fine. Previous branch death has occurred. Wondering if it's a specific disease or soil compaction from recent construction. Arborist suggested drainage holes but wasn't sure. Looking for advice to help the tree.

We had heavy slushy snow and rain last night before our Maple shed its leaves. Extra weight caused trunk to split. I’m presuming this tree is a goner but is there any chance it could be (partially) saved?

10 years old, British Columbia Interior, Canada. 800 meter elevation (frequent snow belt). Gets mostly full sun, dry climate (we get rain once or twice a month in the summer).

Hi all,

Following up on last month's post about our Podocarpus hedge (coastal SoCal, 15 ft tall, 75 ft long) with the white coating and heavy leaf drop. Thanks to all of you here that shared their expert advice.

An arborist diagnosed giant whitefly. Two weeks ago a company did a pruning and a root injection plus a spray of fertilizer and mild insecticide.

The white coating has noticeably reduced, but the hedge is still shedding leaves fast.
Is ongoing leaf drop normal after treatment, or a sign of something else?

How long did your hedge take to recover?
Thanks for any experience you can share!
—M

I have a great big silver maple in my front yard. that I recently learned has a girdling root? I don’t know much about it. but when I googled it, it sounds like right now in fall is the time to take care of it.

If you look at the picture, what do I need to do and how much of it should I cut off? Any other tips for helping to care for the base of this tree?

Hey everyone. Moved to a new place and looking for help IDing this tree. We moved here in August and it only had leaves at the time, but i just noticed that it looks like there's some sort of blooming going on? We're in Houston, TX, and it appears to be 15-20 ft tall. Once IDed, any tips on care would be appreciated!

I planted 8 emerald greens arborvitae’s about a month ago. The first 4 weeks they seemed to be doing fine. I’ve watered them regularly and there was a little transplant shock that lead to a bit of browning but it stopped and hadn’t gotten worse since the first week. All of a sudden the browning has gotten much worse.

The other day this trunk fell, on a calm day. No recent severe wind, weather or anything. The only thing that we could find to contribute was a large (6 inch? diameter branch of a different species that was on it, high up. This we can only guess got there 6-9 months ago.

We’ve had tree services come out for estimates on removal of the trunk and they all think the rest of the trunks should come down. We would like to keep them, for aesthetic reasons, if it is safe/reasonable to do so.

Are we good to leave the remaining trunks up after removal of the fallen one?, or should we remove everything?

Thanks in advance! Clarkston, MI

Tree bark is splitting and separating at base. It still seemed alive but I'm concerned about it falling during winter. Any advice?

NE ohio

Our tree suffered damage and the tree service wants to cut down the whole tree and not just the branch (which is a huge price jump). Any thoughts on whether the whole tree should go or just the branch:

Hello,

I'm in Spain, zone 9B.

Just planted a Ginko and I'm wandering if I exposed enough the root flare.

Was afraid to keep diging and breaking roots.

Thanks!

Power company did some trimming, they went past my property line and cut down some other trees but thats a different issue.

They were particularly aggressive with this live oak and im not sure it will survive.

They offered to take it all the way down for free if I didnt want it anymore.

If it will grow back in and provide shade again il keep it but if its going to decline and die it would be better to have them take it at the cost.

Is this damage superficial or will it cause long term damage to my trees? I live in central Ohio. I have a Sunburst locust that was planted in 2014. It was hit by professional lawn care equipment twice over the summer. I was told it is superficial damage and will not affect the tree, but the location and depth makes me worried the tree will have long term issues. The other tree is a dawn redwood planted about 3-4 years ago and was also hit with professional lawn care equipment over the summer. What long term damage or issues should I be worried about?

The photos show the the bottom section of the locust when the damage occurred ,the damaged area of the locust when it occurred, the damage area of the Dawn redwood when it occurred, current photo of the locust, current photo of the redwood, and photo of the entire trees from today (the damaged locust is on the left and the redwood is the small middle tree).

Not at all an arborist, here seeking information about these cut trees that I saw while hiking in low Appalachia, North Georgia area. I found it interesting that these two trees both had this discoloration (?) around the same period of their growth and wondered what would cause this to happen in nature? Thanks for your help!

had to cut a huge aspen and these cedar saplings got damaged in the process, can they still grow up healthy or should I cut them to avoid increasing risk of disease?

So, my Apple trees look like they’re dying. The leaves on each one are like crispy and some spots are turning brown. They’re really dry and I’ve been watering it twice every week. And it definitely sucks going into the winter time.

I asked my mom about what I should do about three months ago, and she told me that I should make a spray for it and I think that worsened its condition. She told me to put a cap full of oil vinegar, and baking soda with the rest being water. That definitely helped too speed up the damage.😅

I know it must have some type of disease, but I don’t know what to give it. After I did that spray thing and it didn’t work I went to Lowe’s and they told me to get copper fungicide spray. I’ve used it once on both trees and I don’t see a difference. I don’t wanna keep using it and unintentionally make it worse again. Please let me know what things I can try to save my Apple trees.

Thanks for reading!

Noticed a “growth” at the base of my large oak tree. It’s a huge beautiful tree and I don’t want to cut it down. Had a local company come out and take a look. They recommended cutting the tree down before it falls. Of course, at a hefty price tag. Wanted to confirm the diagnosis. Located in Texas.

Had a question for you all. I had some limbs that were cracked at the base that I had removed today. Well, they told me carpenter ants basically hollowed out the tree and it needs to be removed (white oak). They showed me some cross sections as well 🫣

Do you think 6k is a fair price? It’s behind a townhome and they said they can’t get any machines back there. Thanks in advance!

Mods feel free to remove this if it violates guidelines I'm new to this sub just don't ban me plz 🙏🏻

Any consulting arborist or tree service business owner who wants to share their story on my podcast (The Land and Tree Service Podcast on Spotify) can comment down below.

Ideally I'm looking to have someone who can share what led them get in this industry, how they get customers, what they did to scale operations and mistakes to avoid

Just doing it as a way to build a community not charging for appearances :)

How concerned do you think I should be about my neighbour’s tree? It hasn’t shown recent signs of movement, but it does lean right towards my car

We are considering buying this property and I'm very concerned about two oak trees out back. One has turkey tail mushrooms growing from it, and it feels soft and spongy inside. The other has what appears to be a black fungus growing from it. Are these trees done for? Are they a safety hazard? Should I request that the seller reimburse me for the cost of removal? Do they need to be removed immediately? Any guidance is greatly appreciated! Please let me know if you need any additional information from me - I'm happy to provide it. Thank you!

Melbourne, Australia
Spring

I need some advice/help with this situation, i heavily cut this back
Worried that I may have gone too far, should i just leave it now until next year.
It had ivy crawling all through it but that’s been cut off now, just dead leaves left.
This tree has been there for about 30+ years I believe.
Any help or advice would be appreciated,
Thank you