# River Birch possible desease problem



## Barbs4x4

I have a River Birch tree, about 4 years old, about 10 feet tall that has been doing fine until a few days ago. These are small maybe 3/4 inch limbs - after a steady rain yesterday the tree limbs were dropping low and the main stalk was slight bent. I also noticed a couple of squirrels in the tree, eating on some of the leaves which may have caused the limbs to start laying toward the ground. 

I also noticed some of the leaves (maybe 1/8 of them) are heavily crinkled (like the outside covering of a hickory nut) and sort of stiff, and are a lighter color green than the other leaves, and no longer shiney.. also with a slightly gray look on the back - if you rub the back the white part comes off and a a rust color is left on your hands. This seems to be the leaf the squirrel is ating. 

I did not think River Birch had anything on them but leaves - does this mean the tree is deseased and those leaves are dying (though not in the traditional sense a leaf dies, where it turns brown and drops off). If so, how can it be treated?

Thank you


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## Treeman67

Barbs4x4 said:


> I have a River Birch tree, about 4 years old, about 10 feet tall that has been doing fine until a few days ago. These are small maybe 3/4 inch limbs - after a steady rain yesterday the tree limbs were dropping low and the main stalk was slight bent. I also noticed a couple of squirrels in the tree, eating on some of the leaves which may have caused the limbs to start laying toward the ground.
> 
> I also noticed some of the leaves (maybe 1/8 of them) are heavily crinkled (like the outside covering of a hickory nut) and sort of stiff, and are a lighter color green than the other leaves, and no longer shiney.. also with a slightly gray look on the back - if you rub the back the white part comes off and a a rust color is left on your hands. This seems to be the leaf the squirrel is ating.
> 
> I did not think River Birch had anything on them but leaves - does this mean the tree is deseased and those leaves are dying (though not in the traditional sense a leaf dies, where it turns brown and drops off). If so, how can it be treated?
> 
> Thank you


 i got feeling is , that this birch is going under some stress from eniviroments and , it put them in shock stage and squirrel is definely is not help birch to recover. if birch is bend over, the i suggested that if you get 8 foot wooden pole stack and lined up each stake on both side where prevailing wind direction, tied ribbon to upright correction prosition and it may be good idea get some tree feed that will helped them rebuild immune system so they can tolerated stress from enviroments. now squrriel plm , there is a trick to keep them off your birch is buy thin 3 or 4 foot wide metal sheet to wrap trunk tightly as highs than squirriel can jump and put tiny nail in just to hold the wrapped sheet metal temporary. what will happen is that if squrril want to jump on tree, it to slippery for them to climb. if squrriel is gettin too smart to think about climb on wooden stake , so the same thing, they will evenetually will give up. i hope it will help... good luck
Treeman67


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## alanarbor

I think you have spiny witch hazel gall aphid. See the publication in this link, but that seems like the symptoms you're experienceing.

Morton Arboretum report

this pest is not usually a serious issue, but if it is consistantly bad, from season to season, a systemic soil treatment may do the trick. If it's relatively minor, the aphids can be washed off with a garden hose.

A picture would help to confirm


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## Barbs4x4

*River Birth possible desease problem*

Thank you so much for the website link, and your information about the spiny witch hazel gall aphid - the photo of the leaf on the website looks exactly like the problem leaves on my tree, so I will hose it down and see if I can get rid of some of those aphids. Next time though if I have a problem I will post a photo on the website - this is my first time using the site and did not realize I could submit a digital photo.

Also wasn't sure how to respond to Treeman67 regarding the squirrel problem, but maybe Treeman67 will read this posting. This tree is only about an inch or so thick so it would be impossible to get a metal sheet around it tightly. Also, the first limbs are about 3 feet from the ground - squirrels can jump 6 feet (I know, I have lots of them), so I don't see anyway to keep them out of the trees. I put vasoline on my feeder poles and that works great - they jump up and then slowly slide down back to the ground and look very confused - it looks pretty funny. I only have to put the vasoline on a couple of times a year. Also, my squirrels do climb on wooden stakes and then jump to trees and feeders. I no longer have any wooden stakes close to feeders.

I did put a 10 foot pole (about the height of the tree) next to the tree to tied off some of the branches to they point upward. Maybe that will help until the tree gets a little bigger and sturdier.


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## Treeman67

Barbs4x4 said:


> Thank you so much for the website link, and your information about the spiny witch hazel gall aphid - the photo of the leaf on the website looks exactly like the problem leaves on my tree, so I will hose it down and see if I can get rid of some of those aphids. Next time though if I have a problem I will post a photo on the website - this is my first time using the site and did not realize I could submit a digital photo.
> 
> Also wasn't sure how to respond to Treeman67 regarding the squirrel problem, but maybe Treeman67 will read this posting. This tree is only about an inch or so thick so it would be impossible to get a metal sheet around it tightly. Also, the first limbs are about 3 feet from the ground - squirrels can jump 6 feet (I know, I have lots of them), so I don't see anyway to keep them out of the trees. I put vasoline on my feeder poles and that works great - they jump up and then slowly slide down back to the ground and look very confused - it looks pretty funny. I only have to put the vasoline on a couple of times a year. Also, my squirrels do climb on wooden stakes and then jump to trees and feeders. I no longer have any wooden stakes close to feeders.
> 
> I did put a 10 foot pole (about the height of the tree) next to the tree to tied off some of the branches to they point upward. Maybe that will help until the tree gets a little bigger and sturdier.



Thank you for your information about your tree ,i didn't realize that aphid is the plm with your tree as i look at it in website i never see it before ,but i'll keep in my mind in future and maybe i will run into them. i never though about put the vasline on the wooden pole, i'm sure it very funny to watch how they slide down hehehehe. you are right , it too small of the tree to have metal flashing around the trunk and i do know that squrriel can jump high as 6 feet, we have alot of gray spirriel and did a job last year put metal flashing around Ponderosa Pine to keep sqirriel off the tree and from jumping over to house. 
sometime it hard make decission describe condition of tree and make some suggestion what to do without look at it. it easier to go out the field and make some inspection and do some research to dealt with infestation and or condition of the tree to be saved. photo will helps
Thanks Treeman67


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## Barbs4x4

This post does not require a reply, but I wanted to clarify my previous post... the feeder POLES that I put vasoline on to keep the squirrels off, ARE METAL. I don't believe the vasoline would be effective on a wooden pole because the squirrels could probably still get their claws into the wood to climb the post.


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## kshe95

*River Birch "sooty mold"*

I'm a new member after having found this thread via a Google search.

I had been having a few problems this spring with the river birch we'd put in about 15 months ago. The first problem was the yellowing of the leaves, attributable to iron chlorosis, which I (hopefully) solved by amending the soil with iron sulfate. 

Yesterday I noticed a similar problem to the one noted in this thread, and it looked quite scary. The affected leaves were dried up and were covered with a sandy powder. In addition, these leaves were covered with ants. I found the article below, which includes a lot of useful information, including how aphids produce "honeydew" which enables growth of this non-parasitic fungus, and also makes the leaves attractive to insects like ants. 

Shrubs get the sooty mold blues
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=27312&section=garden

The article recommends horticultural oil or insecticidal soap as a potential remedy. Has anyone used either of these methods, and would you recommend it?

Thanks much,
Ken 
Chicago


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## treeseer

kshe95 said:


> The article recommends horticultural oil or insecticidal soap as a potential remedy. Has anyone used either of these methods, and would you recommend it?



Yes, both work.

as for drooping river birch, especially 'Heritage', they benefit from a LIGHT reduction pruning, shortening the tips back to a vigorous lateral that is growing in the desired direction. Start small!


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## alanarbor

Test your soil, see what the Ph is. Iron chlorosis is often a symptom of high Ph, combined with a clay soil texture, and often low organic matter.

Also, is the root flare visible?

River birch prefer sandy, silty soils, and a little bit of shade. I myself would not start working on the top of the tree until the problems at the bottom have been remediated.


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## spraydog

*river birch disease.*

Check the birch for aphid problems, they do get them. Also I have seen many River Birch With Anthracnose. Acephate willl solve the aphid problem and a mix of Banner and Dithane will solve the anthracnose.


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