My tree is dropping tons and tons of leaves. We've had a very wet Spring and Summer here in NW Arkansas. Here is a link to some close- ups of the leaves. The yellow detached leaves fell from the tree today. The green leaves were pulled from the tree. I'm trying to determine if I can treat the tree and make it stop dropping leaves. In prior years it has dropped some leaves due to scorching I presume but nothing close to this year. I appreciate your help.
It may be too late. Could be troubles in the rhizosphere!!!!!!!! Could be a combination of improper planting, improper mulching, and improper pruning. These are the first things to address. If planted correctly, mulched correctly and pruned correctly boxelders do well here in PA. I do know Bradford pears do well here, biologically not mechanically, in our area but the same tree planted in Southern Louisiana become plagued with diseases. People plant them there because they then have a career treating these trees all of its life for disease. Just the wrong tree in the wrong place.
Please post some pictures of the base of the tree with pictures of trunk flare and soil under canopy and some old pruning wounds pictures. I will then address these issues.
Just as a first step in diagnosis you may want to check these sites.
Many tree problems are associated with the following: They are Case Sensitive.
Unhealthy Trees from the Nursery / Improper Planting
The problem with your tree starts with the grade change around the base of the tree. Actually if you would have built a well around the tree and changed the grade beyond the well, it would have had a chance. If that tree was there before the wall and fill, then I would say it is troubles in the rhizosphere especially suffocation of the tree by reduction of free oxygen at rhizoplane. Trees require oxygen for respiration. Filling in around a tree like that greatly reduces free oxygen in rhizoplane. In that case it may just be too late for the tree and trying to fix that very easily could make things even worse. Trees do breath.
When was the grade changed?
John, Thanks for your reply. I bought the house three years after the tree was planted (it has been there a total of 8 years) and the lttle wall was already there when we moved in. They did create a circle around the tree so that the the trunk didn't get covered at all. Picture a shallow funnel about 8 feet across with the tree in the middle. Did you see the pictures of the leaves? I thought it might look like a fungus - we did get a tremendous amount of rain in the Spring and early Summer. I do have mulch right up to the trunk. thanks again for your help.
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