Wilting Silver Birch Trees

Sile Ni Bhaoill asked 13 years ago

I have some silver birch that have been doing very well. They are 2-3 years old approx. All of a sudden the leaves on one or two of them are turning yellow and another one is wilting. It is drooping quite badly – about 1/3 of the tree is hanging low. I watered it but it doesn’t seem to have improved. What could the problem be?

1 Answers

Gerry Daly Staff answered 6 years ago
It is not unusual for birch on dry ground to suffer in mid-summer. The soil dried out at depth in spring and that has not be replenished by showers since.

Sometimes individual birch trees sufffer from bacterial soft rot which causes wilting and a tell-tale exudate from the stem. There is nothing can be done.

Another possibility is root damage by chafer larvae, which are usually temporary and may not trouble the tree again. They are difficult to control and the damage, if they have caused it, is done already.

Watering an established tree is not really worthwhile as it will have to be done in future years if it is not on suitable ground.

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