How to kill a birch tree.

QuestionHi Jim, Can I use Roundup or what ever to kill a large birch tree in my yard. I would like to do this while leaving the tree standing. Thanks for all of your help. Phil Risch AnswerYes Roundup

Japanese maple fading

QuestionI am a Master Gardener with perennial experience but one of my clients has a question about a tree. The Japanese Maple is about 10 - 15 years old and is surrounded by egg sized rocks. In the past few years i

flowering plum trees

QuestionI have three flowering plum trees in my back yard in Southern California that are usually thickly covered with leaves. The past two years two of the trees have not had many leaves, to the point that yo

Problem with Japanese Maple

QuestionI received a red japanese maple as a gift last fall. It has done very good until a few days ago. I noticed a few leaves had turned a lighter color and were drooping. I clipped them off. Today, I walked out a

Kill a birch tree while standing

QuestionHi Gary, I have a large white birch tree in my back yard. I want to kill the tree without first cutting it down. i have heard of many methods and am therefore somewhat confused. What is you

Hibiscis Tree

QuestionDr. Bachman, My hibiscis tree just a week ago was 8 feet high, however a windstrom came and force two of the stalks to the ground. The person helping me care for the tree tied the whole tree up and fo

aralia sp.

QuestionI have a small aralia tree in the lobby of my hotel and the leaves keep turning yellow whats wrong. AnswerJim, I am guessing that the yellowing is due to low light levels. How long have you had the a

white pine ree

Questioni live in georgia and have a six-year old white pine i planted. it is seven feet tall now. can i trim it to stay this height, treating it as a hedge? where it is in the landscape, this would make

windthrow

QuestionMy question contains two parts:Is windthrow considered an ACT OF GOD or is it preventable with reasonable management methods? Is the willow leaf oak more likely to be downed by wind than other trees in the f

Root girdling

QuestionI have a 20-year-old summit ash (about 18 trunk diameter) that has not been well for 3 years. It leafs out very late, drops early and perhaps 25% has pretty much died off. One arborist analyze

Potted Braided Ficus/Winter

QuestionHi, I live in Quebec, Canada. I have two beautiful potted braided Ficus trees and have left them outside for the summer. When I got them, I brought them in the house and they shed almost all their leaves so

Possible overwatering of a young tree

QuestionMy wife and I planted a 24 box Agonis(?) about a year ago. It has been very slow to grow and shows few signs of new leaves. It has been a beautiful tree other than this. Last week most of the leaves turned b

ornamental pear trees

QuestionI have two ornamental pear trees about 6 yrs. old and 20 to 25 tall. We have severe winters in this area (Foothills of the Catskill Mtns. in New York State). The one tree has lost 3/4 of its bark

I need to identify several...

QuestionI need to identify several kinds of trees by their leaves. for instance, the leaves are 3-5 inches in length, branched veins, fairly fine saw teeth, ovular in shape, with bark that is fairly deeply rid

growing one tree from another grown tree

Question------------------------- Followup To Question - I live in Southern California and I am in the process of selling my childhood home. I have 2 orange trees and one rose bush/tree that have sentimenta

Apricot Tree - Forming sap nodules

QuestionI have an apricot tree that is several years old. We pruned the much overgrown tree during the winter and this summer there are dozens of hardened sap nodules all over the tree and one branch has died.

Willow oak leaves with stripes

QuestionThe 50+ year old willow oak has developed a couple of branches that have areas of distorted leaves. When I took some of the leaves off to examine them I found that the leaves are curled under. Al

Hardscape selection under CA Black Walnut tree?

QuestionHello: We just purchased a home w/ a mature Black Walnut tree in our backyard. Ive noticed that it drops a huge amount of litter. Any advice/suggestions as to what to construct/plant beneath the trees dripl

whats wrong with my maple and apple trees

QuestionRecently my maple tree is showing symptoms of yellow leaves, ants on the tree. For the apple tree, the leaves are going off. Im in Ontario. It is not that cold for yellow leaves yet. Ohtere trees

Pecan tree (old)

QuestionI have an old pecan tree in my yard that exhibits symptoms of long term zinc deficiency. There are several dead limbs and the foliage does not fill out properly. I have been told that this is one