QuestionI have a 2 year established, weeping willow tree, it has done well and doubled in size in the 2 years I have had it. I planted it near a drainage ditch in a whole that had an older willow tree in it previously. My problem is, now I think it is dead,:-(,My husband sprayed the ditch with Roundup, which is a good 6 feet away.The leaves started falling off about a week after he sprayed, also,I noticed on inspection, however, it also has a large hole, about 6mm, right in the middle of the base of the tree, like something drilled into it. It's not obvious to me, whether the overspray from the Roundup killed it, or some kind of pest? Can it be saved??This is mine and my husband's favorite kind of tree, any help would be greatly appreciated. Any advice as to plant another in it's place if it is dead?
AnswerTo check of the tree is dead start at the top and scrape some of the bark off the branch and if the color under the bark is green then the tree is still alive at this point on the branch. If the color is brown (not green) the tree is dead at this point on the branch--if brown continue down the branch scraping every 6 inches intervals until you find green if you do prune back the dead branches. If you find no green then the tree is dead. I would suspect that the spray drifted onto the foliage and is damageing the foliage. Another tree planted will not be bothered by this roundup application.
