Knowledgebase

Street trees #877910

Asked July 19, 2024, 11:54 AM EDT

There are several trees that were all delivered approx 4-5 years ago that are having troubles this year. I believe the trees are Cleveland Pears. This is the first year we are having problems. I have submitted 3 pictures of different trees, I have more if requested. Could you please inform what you believe the problem may be? Thank you in advance for your expertise and time.

Kalamazoo County Michigan

Expert Response

These trees are all likely suffering from one or more post-planting environmental stresses. So many factors impact transplant success in the first few years, including: how the plant was grown originally; how it was handled; what time of year it was dug and planted; the difference in the soil it was grown in vs the soil it is planted in; was it planted too deep; was its thin bark damaged by a mower and weed-whip thereby inhibiting the flow of water and nutrients; was it watered; or was it watered too much?  Often times more than one of these issues is to blame for the decline and or death of newly planted trees.

The tree that is more narrow does appear to be a Callery Pear (and 'Cleveland' is a particular cultivated variety). It doesn't look too bad. It has a few dead branches following its first few years in the ground. The most concerning issue is that it appears to be suckering from the root-stock. Many cultivated trees are grafted on to root-stock of the same species or a related species. Many callery pear can sucker from the roots like this, but this is often a sign of stress. You could prune off those suckers from the base and the add a mulch ring to keep mowers and weed-whips from damaging the base of the tree.

The tree that has lower dead branches is a Freeman maple (a hybrid of a silver maples and a red maple - Acer × freemanii). The upper branches appear healthy, and it could possibly be fine going forward. The lower branches could have died back in recent years as a result of transplant stress. I would make sure to add a mulch ring to this one as well, but be sure not to pile the mulch up onto the root flare.

The third tree was likely also a Freeman maple and is dead unfortunately and should be removed. The growth at the base is the root stock, probably a red maple. It will never grow into the tree that you would want.

Here are some tips and info on plantings and post-planting care:

Planting and transplanting trees and shrubs | UMN Extension

Spring is Tree Planting Season (psu.edu)

Don't forget about newly planted trees and shrubs - MSU Extension 

Transplanting: The final step towards successful urban tree establishment (openaccessgovernment.org) 


An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 23, 2024, 5:00 PM EDT

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