Birch tree dropping leaves

all over the front yard. The leaves are yellow. I can't remember if it did this last year, but now seems especially early to be shedding leaves, doesn't it? Jackie zone 7

Reply to
J. Davidson
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Zone 7 seems kinda warm for a birch tree (they are northern temperate / sub-arctic trees.) So maybe that's the problem.

Have you seriously disturbed the soil near the tree (eg, rebuilt a driveway or walkway)? Birch trees do not like have their toes stepped on.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Look for D shaped holes in the bark about bb size or just a bit smaller. Be about time for the emergence of bronze birch borers. Are these birch trees planted in the sun? makes them more susceptable.

Reply to
bamboo

Mine are doing the same thing, in zone 5.

Diane

Reply to
DK

Birch trees can die of old age. Is it over twenty years old?

Reply to
Bert Byfield

Mine are only several years old. They are whitespire birch only about 12' tall. I checked trunk & every branch for those D shaped bb size areas but found nothing. I'm a little concerned about someone mentioning they are not for full sun. When planted, the instructions given were to plant in full sun. Hence they have sun from about 9 am on. No little caterpillers or bugs on the leaves. I'm spraying with a fungicide to see if that will help? Any other ideas?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Diane

Reply to
DK

Good day J. Not seeing a photo of the infected leaves or tree makes it a bit difficult assess the cause. With that said, I would suspect Birch Rust or aphids.

A photo of Birch rust:

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rust ( Melampsoridium betulinum ) starts to show up in early summer as small, yellow spots on leaves. These then turn in to brown spots with yellow edges. Check out this page and see what you think:

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Ornamentals> Birch> Rust>

Or you can follow this huge link:

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more common problem around here for birch is aphids. With heavy infestations, the leaves can become yellow and drop. Along with an aphid infestation you generaly find black sooty mold on the tops of leaves and you may notice many ants climbing your tree. The ants are farming the aphids for honeydew and they tend to protect them from predators. If you find aphids, I would suggest that you hose the tree off with a garden hose every few days for a couple of weeks. Take aim for the underside of the leaves where the aphids live. After they get washed off, their good as dead but aphids have many generations of eggs that hatch over a few weeks. Generally the ladybug nymphs will keep the tree clean after the ladybug populations get large enough.

Good luck.

Reply to
Timothy

My Birch is probably 9 years old. I will look for D shaped holes, etc. tomorrow in day light. Thanks, Jackie .

Reply to
J. Davidson

I'm in zone 7 too and noticed same problem in the neighborhood. I think it due to the rain here in Charlotte a couple weeks ago. We got

5 inches in about one day and it may have killed off some roots. I've similar problems with red maple but the silver maple is doing better. I've a large oak that leaves on the ends of some branches died off. I think it due to the rain. Hold off the watering and they will likely come back.

Thunder

Reply to
Rolling Thunder

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