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| I live in Cincinnati, OH and construction work [30 foot sewer pipe installed] had to be done around a silver maple (about 60 feet high) in my front yard in the latter part of March. I had a tree company (Bartlett) fertilize the tree roots at the base after blowing out the soil at the base following the pipe work. The soil that was put back near the pipe and the maple is compacted and during the recent very hot spell, the soil has developed significant cracks. I am assuming this is not good for the health of the roots or the tree in general. Can anyone give me any tips as to what I can do to try to preserve the tree? (It blocks the afternoon sun, which is very useful to me.) So far the tree appears to be doing pretty good, but Bartlett told me that I won’t really know whether it will survive until next year comes around.
JD |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I would make sure the drainage is correct and then water and mulch as much as possible without drowning the tree. Mike |
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| I'm not sure we (or at least I) understand what you had done enough to give much advice. You said you had someone "fertilize the tree roots at the base." What's this all about? What did your soil fertility test indicate was lacking, and was the fertilizer selected to meet that shortcoming? Was the fertilizer really only applied to the base of the tree!?! You also said that the company "(blew) out the soil at the base following the pipe work." I really can't figure out what that means either. Do you maybe mean that the company used an air spade (before the plumbing work was done) to excavate around and under the roots in order to install the pipe without cutting large roots? This type of work can be done in a way where there is little likelihood of significant damage to the tree, but I cannot tell by what you said whether your job was done that way or not. I think we need a lot of clarification to get started. |
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| Brandon7 "You said you had someone "fertilize the tree roots at the base." What's this all about?" Bartlett tree company mulched a 6 ft. circumference at the base of the tree and fertilized that area. Brandon7 "You also said that the company "(blew) out the soil at the base following the pipe work." I really can't figure out what that means either." As best I can tell an air spade was used to clean around the roots prior to using fertilizer (liquid I believe) and then laying mulch in the 6 foot circumference around the tree. Thanks to you and Botann for your help. JD |
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Wed, Jul 11, 12 at 23:02
| I think I understand. A picture is worth 1,000 words though. Even if just to show how close they were working near the tree. Far as what you can do now, water deeply. Get a rain gauge and make sure the big boy gets at least .35 inches or more a week. I like just soaking the whole yard with a sprinkler or soaker hose instead of just flooding one spot. The sprinklers I can track easier with my rain gauge. I would rather give it all that water at once other than for fifteen minutes every day of the week. Good luck. |
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| From the description you give, I don't think anything Bartlett did is likely to help your tree at all. It almost sounds like they were just putting on a show to get your money. Of course maybe they did more than you know or something... How much damage was done to the tree by the pipe installation will depend on many things like how close the work was to the tree, how much soil compaction was done in the rootzone of your tree, whether they plumbers just cut through the roots in the path of the pipe or if they dug around larger roots and placed the pipe underneath, etc, etc, etc. Without lots more details, a general recommendation to carefully monitor soil moisture levels and irrigate as needed is about all we can tell you. |
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- Posted by cearbhaill Zone 6b Eastern KY (My Page) on Thu, Jul 12, 12 at 7:52
| Water it. |
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| I am attaching a picture of the cracked soil. Will attach another picture of the tree itself in another posting. (Apparently only one picture per posting allowed) Would add that the sewer pipe was 15 feet deep and that the dug up soil sat around for about 1 week because rain hampered the finishing of the project. I have been watering the lawn surrounding the tree. However, now my emphasis will be to make sure that the tree gets plenty of water, rather than worrying about the grass. JD |
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| Here is a picture of the tree. |
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| One last picture. Couldn't save a rotated view. Obviously, will water. Any other help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, JD |
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