I think my tree is having problems

[exige]

This tree:


The leaves wilted and curled earlier in the summer when we had our first heat wave, and it hasn't recovered since. I water it when I water the lawn, but today I took my spike and discovered that the mulched area is really only a thin 1/2" layer of mulch over a mound of dirt fill and rocks placed right up to the trunk. My thought was maybe it is getting suffocated? I used the spike to clear a 2-3" ring around the trunk and then watered it again.

I don't think its dead, because the branches still seem "normal" not dried out or anything. Will I have to wait until spring for it to come back to "life"? I'll try to take some close up pics later today. I'm pretty sure the tree suffered a bout of powdery mildew earlier in July. What can I do to help this tree survive and come back stronger?

[andy10917]

What kind of tree is it, and how old is it?

[MorpheusPA]

Also, could we have a tight closeup of the base of the trunk and the leaf issue?

I've had a few that are a might wilty at times this year, but one good watering and they recover. The fact that this does not speaks to another problem.

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Check this site on tree trunks. Pull the soil and mulch away from the base of the tree and take a look.

[exige]

Its a dogwood tree and was planted about a year ago or so, not sure how "old" it was before that. Its a beautiful tree. I'll have more pics later.

[exige]

Here are some additional pictures:

[exige]

And a few more pics:

[MorpheusPA]

I think your tree isn't having problems. I think it's dying. That's not quite the classic look of anthracnose, but the curling leaves are often characteristic of that or another fungal infection...and with anthracnose spreading explosively, that would be my initial guess. People all over the tri-state area are losing dogwoods to it.

You can try to take leaf and branch samples to your local extension office for evaluation. If it is anthracnose, the tree is not going to make it--that's really widespread damage.

Fortunately, photos are deceptive. One thing you can try is to aerate around the tree near the edge of the feeder roots to see if it's compacted soil. On dogwoods, those are around the edge of the tree canopy out to about 150% that far.

I always have trouble determining the base of a dogwood as it doesn't have the hyper-distinct knee that other trees do. Yours seems to be well enough planted...but somebody else with more experience there will need to weigh in.

[exige]

Yep, unfortunately it now really looks like its dying/dead. The branches still feel like they have life in them, but the leaves are looking quite sickly and rotted. It looks quite awful.

When can I plant a new dogwood? Best to wait until early spring? I'm hoping I can put a new tree there without damaging the new lawn. Can I cut the roots within the circular mulch volcano cutout that the tree is in, dig it out carefully and plop the new one in there? Hey at least it gives me the wintertime to learn about trees.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent anthracnose in the future, or is it an uncurable/unpreventable disease that we just have to live with?

[MorpheusPA]

Yep, unfortunately it now really looks like its dying/dead. The branches still feel like they have life in them, but the leaves are looking quite sickly and rotted. It looks quite awful.

I'm sorry for you and the tree! I lost a dogwood this year to anthracnose after struggling with it for two years.

When can I plant a new dogwood? Best to wait until early spring? I'm hoping I can put a new tree there without damaging the new lawn. Can I cut the roots within the circular mulch volcano cutout that the tree is in, dig it out carefully and plop the new one in there? Hey at least it gives me the wintertime to learn about trees.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent anthracnose in the future, or is it an uncurable/unpreventable disease that we just have to live with?

If it was anthracnose (and I still think so, but could be wrong), the answer is that you can't ever plant another dogwood there--the same thing will happen. I replaced mine with a Jane magnolia instead, which doesn't have the same problems with the disease. When it does get it, it's a leaf here and there, and doesn't kill the tree.

Look for another tree of the same habit that doesn't have an issue with it.

Even if it wasn't anthracnose, it was obviously some disease, and any dogwood you plant will get it. Generally, if you lose a given species in one place, don't replace it with the same thing. There was a reason it didn't do well.

[exige]

Anthracnose certainly sounds like a likely culprit given its widespread. Earlier in the summer however, it definitely looked like powdery mildew, and there was a powdery mildewy coating up the trunk and on the branches. Not all of the dogwoods in the neighborhood look quite as bad as mine however, although they all appear to be going downhill at different rates. The other dogwoods look like how mine was 3-4 weeks ago.

If I replace it with another species, do I wait until next year, or is it possible to plant one in the fall timeframe even though all the trees will be dropping leaves at that point?

[exige]

Here's a picture from today of the tree of death:

[glenforest]

If I replace it with another species, do I wait until next year, or is it possible to plant one in the fall timeframe even though all the trees will be dropping leaves at that point?

Fall is still a good time for planting trees and shrubs with the right care.

[MorpheusPA]

The stuff seems to be everywhere and spreading explosively. On this property, most of my trees have it, but most are species that don't die of it, they just lose a leaf here and there. That dogwood--one of my favorite trees--was a sad exception.

The fact that the other neighborhood dogwoods are ill supports the anthracnose (or another severe disease) hypothesis.

You can certainly plant a new tree in fall if you want, that's actually a good time for new plantings. Unfortunately, that means removing the dogwood soonest to give the smaller roots, at least, time to rot.

Here's a picture from today of the tree of death:

Yeah, that looks bad.

[exige]

Hmm...the branches still feel alive. Although it looks awful, is it pretty much a total goner or is there some possibility of helping it recuperate?

I was Googling around and it looks like there are varities of dogwood that are resistant to anthracnose, varieties resistant to powdery mildew, but no variety that is resistant to both yet...unless that has changed recently? I have to decide what to do with this tree. Let it sit through the winter and hope it recovers, dig it out and replace with the same type of dogwood, dig it out and replace with another type of dogwood, or put a completely different tree there. Is there anything that looks just like a dogwood but isn't a dogwood?

[cuffs]

Consider a fringe tree... They're beautiful compact trees with lacy white flowers that bloom a little later in Spring than a dogwood. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plan ... ?code=C120

[MorpheusPA]

I have a fringe out front and love it, but it's definitely not a dogwood. Nor dogwood-type. Mine, anyway, is trained into a vase shape, it's decidedly a shrub and not a tree (multiple leaders, multiple main branches if you allow it...I didn't), and looks more tropical than a dogwood ever will.

For something dogwood-esque, kind of, perhaps a redbud. Though I'd check to see what diseases they get as I don't know offhand.