Dogwood Tree problems - help!

[mswmom]

I planted a pink dogwood in early spring. The tree was doing very well until about 2 or 3 weeks ago when I noticed that the leaves were starting to wilt. Naturally, because GA was (is) in a drought, I watered the tree. I read that they like an inch of water a week. But, the dogwood is looking worse. I stuck my finger in the dirt and it felt moist, so I avoided watering the tree for a week and a half and then watered it again yesterday. The dogwood looks even worse. The leaves on the some of the upper and lower branches are now brown, curled, crackled and dry. All of the leaves are drooping down. The tree is definitely not happy. Some information about the tree:

1. It is in a shady corner of our lawn under Pine trees. It gets filtered sunlight.

2. The soil in our backyard is mostly red clay. We dug a giant hole and filled it with good soil, but the area around this hole is red clay. I wonder if the red clay is acting as a "bowl" and keeping the soil too moist. Perhaps a better drainage system would help? How do you do that? Could I dig up the tree and layer the ground with rocks and perlite to help improve drainage?

3. Moving the tree to a new location is not an option. We have a small yard and there is no other place where a tree could grow.

4. I have fertilized the tree once since we planted it. It was planted in dirt that contained fertilizer.

5. The tree has not been sprayed with pesticide.

6. I do not have mulch around the tree because my dog chews mulch. But, it seems to me that mulch would actually hold moisture in and that would not be a good thing if the tree is too wet. Is that correct thinking?

Any help would be appreciated. I would really like for this tree to live.

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

Is this it? (save it to your desktop and then open it)

For some reason it won't open directly from AS.

 

[BayouTree]

Dogwoods can be kinda sensitive when they are first planted. It would only take one time of the rootball getting too dry and the leaves would not be able to come back no matter how much you water. The tree would then have to put on new leaves.

You are right in your assumption that the clay could be acting as a bowl holding water. You could easily over water in this situation. Backfilling the planting hole with a soil type other than what is on site is a bad idea. The water will drain easily through the imported/good soil and settle on top of the clay in essence filling your bowl creating a bad environment for the roots. Adding gravel or sand to the bottom of the hole will have the same affect not improving the situation.

There is not much I can think of to do at this point. Removing the tree from its planting hole and replacing the native soil this time of year would probably kill the tree. How large is the tree? You may just nurse it along now until winter and do this, if it is worth the effort.

Mulching is good for the tree it will keep the top of the root ball from drying out, even while the bottom may be sitting in water. You may consider mulching with something other than the hardwood mulch. Since you have pines handy their needles make excellent mulch if your dog won't chew on them.

Good luck.

 

[mswmom]

Is this it? (save it to your desktop and then open it)

For some reason it won't open directly from AS.

Thank you. No. This is not the disease it has, but I appreciate you trying to help.

 

[mswmom]

Dogwoods can be kinda sensitive when they are first planted. It would only take one time of the rootball getting too dry and the leaves would not be able to come back no matter how much you water. The tree would then have to put on new leaves.

You are right in your assumption that the clay could be acting as a bowl holding water. You could easily over water in this situation. Backfilling the planting hole with a soil type other than what is on site is a bad idea. The water will drain easily through the imported/good soil and settle on top of the clay in essence filling your bowl creating a bad environment for the roots. Adding gravel or sand to the bottom of the hole will have the same affect not improving the situation.

There is not much I can think of to do at this point. Removing the tree from its planting hole and replacing the native soil this time of year would probably kill the tree. How large is the tree? You may just nurse it along now until winter and do this, if it is worth the effort.

Mulching is good for the tree it will keep the top of the root ball from drying out, even while the bottom may be sitting in water. You may consider mulching with something other than the hardwood mulch. Since you have pines handy their needles make excellent mulch if your dog won't chew on them.

Good luck.

This was an excellent response. I have posted on a lot of websites regarding this tree and this was by far the best response. Sorry that I took so long in seeing it!

I will try mulching with pine needles. One thing that I did do was to pull back the soil on the top of the root ball thus making the top of the root ball level with the ground. Now, I will mulch with pine needles and see if that helps.

Again, thanks for the thorough response.

 

[Themadd1]

Bayou tree covered most of the info, I would just like to add one thing. In terms of longevity make sure the root flare is uncovered and at surface level.

Many times when trees are planted they are planted way too deep. The root ball itself is usually packed up onto the trunk to keep it in place.

When you washed off the dirt on top make sure you have cleared away the soil down to the first major horizontal root. Sometimes the small feeder roots have grown up the trunk because of the soil added ontop in the field.

By removing soil down to the root flare or collar you will keep mold, fungus, etc from damaging the most important and sensitive structure of the tree. Also girdling roots from being in the burlap or container can choke the tree and cause early leaf drop, decline, and death.

Good luck and if you need some more information about this topic check out:
isa-arbor.com. There are some really good photos and guidlines for planting.

Cheers,