Need advice on struggling tree. Recently purchased property from a horticulturalist. Stunning Garden!

[asukaoyl]

We recently purchased a property from a horticulturalist. They created a absolutely stunning garden while living here for the past 20 years. As the new owners, maintaining it is very important to us, we are learning along the way. We moved here last summer (August). Once spring came around this year, we noticed so many new species of plants.

With that said we just past our first winter and our first spring is about to end. I noticed one of the trees in the backyard seemed to be struggling.

I think its a Redbud Hazel Tree but correct me if I'm wrong. It has red heart shaped leaves.

Notice how there are barely any leaves and its already mid May on East Coast.

Better view of entire Tree

Close up of bark, other side has a lot of pealing as well, it just looks a bit off.

Small part of the backyard, we have A LOT to learn! Its very dense, over 10 different types of trees. Countless perennials, many shrubs. I would estimate there are over 100 different plants on the property, its a bit overwhelming. But we love the challenge!

I have a feeling we are going to be posting here a lot! Advice on great forums or sources of information would be greatly appreciated! I will post a bit more about what we changed so far and ideas we have in the future but for now the focus is on saving this tree if possible!

Thank you gardening community! <3

 

[cpp gardener]

You have a most spectacular yard to enjoy!
the Redbud, Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’, has had an injury of some sort at or near ground level. You can start by removing any dead branches and then assess if what’s left is worth saving. You might want to reach out to the previous owners if you can and see what they’ve tried.
Please do keep posting about your extraordinary garden and let us enjoy it vicariously!

 

[asukaoyl]

You have a most spectacular yard to enjoy!
the Redbud, Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’, has had an injury of some sort at or near ground level. You can start by removing any dead branches and then assess if what’s left is worth saving. You might want to reach out to the previous owners if you can and see what they’ve tried.
Please do keep posting about your extraordinary garden and let us enjoy it vicariously!

Thank you for responding! I will get on removing the dead branches as soon as possible! By injury at or near ground level what should I look for? Is it maybe pooling water in the area? Is there anything I can feed the tree to give it help, maybe a fertilizer? Reaching out to the previous owner is unfortunately impossible

 

[cpp gardener]

Bummer.
Pooling water on its own isn’t a problem, a wound of some sort would be.
See if you can find a good independent retail nursery nearby to help with identifying and cultivating your garden.

 

[oneeye]

You planted the tree too deep in the ground. Heres how a tree should look after being planted. You have to allow the root flair to be exposed or you tree will suffocate. Always leave the root flair slightly above the ground to keep the tree healthy.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Certainly the maturity of the tree is evident. They are in that grouping of 20-25 year life trees. You said previous owners were there 20 years. Fast growers are usually first into the lawn and first out. I can tell from the upper bent trunk it was hit by a falling tree or something at some point when it was little. But I rarely see a straight redbud unless it is a lawn specimen. From such a distance and without context it is difficult to assess the cause of bark loss. I have seen this in other trees such as dogwood and since the meristem under the bark seems not damaged in your picture, I speculate when I say infection.

I notice there is a vertical nature to the bark loss. The way a tree is made can be thought of as co-operating groups or clumps of roots. Down at soil level it would not suprise me to find the arch of wood that indicates one of these roots clusters is directly below and feeding the failing bark area. When only one quadrant, segment or above ground section of a plant is dying off like that look below to the root underneath. This lineage indicates a hallmark of a root problem, often fungal in nature, but sometimes viral. Typically insect attack from biting is above ground and plainly evident.

Because the tree is not edible systemic treatments are available. They will be slow as is the plant, but best given this time of year as sap rises. Drenching is often the best method of delivery to get it deep. If it is not infection you will not hurt anything. Remember it is a very mature redbud and they get pretty rough as they age without a lot of bonsai level attention.

My lawn has a few redbud. Notice midlevel trunk efforts at branching indicating late stages of maturity.

Damage from Horse Cribbing and root illustration. If you find these roots under mulch and with soften bark please uncover them. Here we have dense clay so the trees breathe better on top of the clay.

Here is dogwood with bark problems. It's been here what seems forever.

Ever heard of Occam's Razor?

It froze harder than expected for a lot of the country this winter. You may be looking at some of that too. Here is a perfectly normal Grancy Greybeard that simply froze completely and we are in central Alabama, Shocking!

It is not uncommon for the claws of animals like squirrels to spread fungal disease where their claws grip. I can be hard to ferret out what ishappening to a tree.

Most of what I experience is fungal attack. But here it is shady, hot and a million percent humidity. Your pathogens may vary.

Anyway, renewal can happen too. Here is a new rebud emerging from the trunk of redbud that I removed due to its hollow base and overhaning the car parking area

 

[asukaoyl]

Update!

1. I pruned all the dead branches.
2. Cleared the area surrounded the trunk

What products do you recommend for treatment? @DirtMechanic
Do you see anything obvious that is causing the tree to struggle?

I'm doing this all myself. I will eventually, if needed get a professional to look at the entire garden but I am the type of person that likes to do things themselves and learn unless absolutely necessary.

.
There was a significant amount of dead wood. This is what is left.

Area around the trunk.

Not sure if these bugs are dangerous but they have completely burrowed into the surrounded area and under the bark.

I also noticed these holes.

Thank you once again for all the help!

 

[cpp gardener]

Those other holes are from a wood- or bark- boring beetle and do not bode well for the tree's survival. The Sowbugs aren't dangerous by themselves, but they indicate rotted bark and wood. Considering how much you removed and the shape of what's left, I'd remove the tree and replace it either there or another prominent location. That is one of my wife's favorite trees.

 

[oneeye]

Shes a goner friend. You can do whatever you want but she's a goner. The tree was planted too deep in-ground and caused decay on the bark where it meets the ground. This is a perfect example of a tree planted too deep in the ground and the result of doing it. Thanks for posting a photo.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I can agree with @oneeye because as an ornamental it looks less than pristine at this point and that is the purpose.

It is not necessarily gonna die, but it is like a deer with a bad leg.

Here is an undercut bradford pear. We planted them 25 years ago as the front yard was barren and we wanted some fast relief from the sun walking to the mailbox. The bradford to the left had a zinc all thread rod run horizontally through its main trunks when it tried to split. I feel like the zinc helped it. It certainly demonstrated a larger diameter than the undercut bradford to its right and is the largest diameter of the remaining 3 bradfords we have. We replaced 2 with river birch and one with a knockout rose.

Here is the undercut bradford. The second pic shows the root flair and you see you have not quite dug yours down to that point. Your bark has rotted in the presence of loving compost. The isopods eat fungi and mildew. Mealybugs is one name, I think they are interesting little prehistoric critters.

Anyway the other critters you see may well be gone by now. The tree may well survive them too, but its aesthetic may change such as this tree by my shed.

If you intend to leave it I would suggest continuing your excavation and reading about how a sharp cut on bark helps the development of "wound wood". I would drench it with a phosphite product like agri-fos and have a systemic insecticide in the mix as well. The preparation for wound wood amounts to removing more dead area but leaving a matrix for the meristem to grow onto. This will probably result in a hollow base, not the best outcome but it is a small tree and not a particular danger. There are a variety of techniques, waxes etc use by and in the propagation and bonzai groups that may help. It would be good to read about the tree extensively in regards to the habit of the meristem and its natural tendencies. The knowledge may well help illuminate a path to recovery. Or you may consider a hard prune like is favored by @Tetters. She worked in propagation and may know where to point you.

 

[Tetters]

I'm afraid I have no expertise on trees, but having looked through this thread, I would definitely agree that this tree is in its last phase. As has already been mentioned the wood boring creatures have moved in because the tree is rotting away. If that was on my land I would remove it without doubt. I wouldn't want to prolong the agony of its loss.
@DirtMechanic , my hard pruning technique only really applies to shrubs.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I'm afraid I have no expertise on trees, but having looked through this thread, I would definitely agree that this tree is in its last phase. As has already been mentioned the wood boring creatures have moved in because the tree is rotting away. If that was on my land I would remove it without doubt. I wouldn't want to prolong the agony of its loss.
@DirtMechanic , my hard pruning technique only really applies to shrubs.

I think it is interesting that bark can be induced to sprout in some cases and others it happens naturally and on some not at all. A mysterious group those propagators. They know things.

 

[asukaoyl]

Just wanted to update people that we ended up having to cut the tree down. When we cut it you can see it was pretty dead unfortunately. Not sure what got it but it was for sure being eaten from the inside. The trunk was very discolored parts brown with yellowish rings.

We decided cut it around 4-5 feet off the ground to use the stump as a pillar for a bird bath.