New slabs around willow tree, leaves going yellow

 


I have a 20 yr old American purple stem willow tree it is not very big,
about 9
or 10 foot tall and about 9ft diametre. Apparently they stay
fairly small. Its
leaves have started to go yellow, not sure if its
because of the new slabbing
around it or that it will be getting less
water or if its normal for the leaves
to go yellow at this time of year

I have just had the area slabbed around it to extend the patio and while
this
was being done some of the roots (I'm pressuming it was the roots
from the
willow) were chopped off as the area was dug to about 5 or 6
inches before the
slabs were laid so it has lost 5 or 6 inches of top
soil over a 15ft by 15ft
area. The gaps between the slabs have been
filled in and under them will now be
the sand and cement mixture which
was put in all the corners so there will be
gaps under there too with no
soil.

I don't really want to lose it, next to the trunk there has been left
quite a
small area about 18 inch square which has been filled with
soil.

Could it be that it has to recover from the roots being chopped a bit or
will it
be lack of water? I thought with it being there for 20 years
that it might
withstand it as its root system was well established. Will
it recover?




--
Butterfly

 


Butterfly;896558 Wrote:

it is not very big,

they stay

or if its normal for the leaves to go yellow at this time of year

this was being done some of the roots (I'm pressuming it was the roots

> from

the willow) were chopped off as the area was dug to about 5 or 6

> inches before

the slabs were laid so it has lost 5 or 6 inches of top

> soil over a 15ft by

15ft area. The gaps between the slabs have been

> filled in and under them will

now be the sand and cement mixture which

> was put in all the corners so there

will be gaps under there too with no

a small area about 18 inch square which has been filled with

will it be lack of water? I thought with it being there for 20 years

> that it

might withstand it as its root system was well established. Will

Anyone have any ideas about this please?




--
Butterfly

 

Butterfly.6d171c6@gardenbanter.co.uk says...

If it is just root damage due to the digging it will recover during its
dormant period this winter, if it is objecting to the sudden increase in
PH then its recovery may take longer. It may of course just have been the
dry year to date. but whatever, sit on your hands and do nothing (apart
from water if you think it could be very dry) See what happens in spring
before deciding what to do
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

 


[/i][/color]
If it is just root damage due to the digging it will recover during its

dormant period this winter, if it is objecting to the sudden increase in

PH then its recovery may take longer. It may of course just have been
the
dry year to date. but whatever, sit on your hands and do nothing (apart

from water if you think it could be very dry) See what happens in spring

before deciding what to do
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
'ROSELAND HOUSE GARDEN & NURSERY' (http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk )
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Yes I thought about the cement affecting it too. I have just watered it in
the
small soil area around the trunk and watered the leaves then I gave it
1.5
gallons of tomato feed as it had nitrogen in it. I'm thinking of
taking the soil
out of the trunk area so more water can get below the
slabs as there are gaps
under them. I'm then going to put some granite
stones to replace the soil that
wont fall into the gaps under the slabs. I
could from time to time push the hose
pipe under the slabs to get water
further under there.

Would it help to trim the tree a bit seeing as its water has been greatly
reduced?




--
Butterfly

 

Charlie Pridham wrote:

Losing the top five or six inches is pretty hefty damage, though: I'd
have thought most of the fibrous roots would have been in that layer
(any comments from those better informed?). I don't know this species in
particular, but willows in general do have great powers of recovery, but
I think the filling between the slabs, if it's mortar, needs to come out
to admit not only water, but air. Any possibility of making that
slab-free patch a bit wider?

--
Mike.