Help w/Beech phytophthora canker

[Douggg]

my 150 year old copper beech has gotten much worse over the past year. i noticed and identified with help from others my tree had phytophthora canker.

i have agri-fos and pentra bark and will be spraying in next couple days.

my main question is should i pull off the bark that is simple to pull off before spraying?

second question would be if you have knowledge of what other approaches work best. thanks

 

[ATH]

You aren't going to get rid of phytophthora. Best bet is to maintain overall tree health as best you can to keep it around for as long as you can.

What else is around the tree? (both up high and below...)

Eliminate as much turf as possible over the root system. Allow for adequate drainage. Check soil fertility (be careful about too much N fertilizer...i wouldn't use any unless you know it is lacking as you are not wanting to push top growth). Might consider Cambistat???

 

[Douggg]

beneath the branches on the south side, 10 feet from the trunk, is a garage/outbuilding 30 feet long with concrete wall foundation. so if roots were to continue under it, they would have to nose dive down few feet. due to the structure on the south side, no sun would get to the ground under the canopy. another thing, there is a driveway that is also 10 feet from trunk. this goes around the tree for 180 degrees of it. nothing is interfering with the canopy (no close trees). there has been pachysandra under the canopy, but i just weed whacked it low and put few inches of mulch to hopefully smother it. SHOULD I REMOVE the weak bark that is barely holding on before i spray? thank you for cambistat recommendation. anything else i should do?

 

[ATH]

If the bark isn't attached, I'd flake it off...that is never a a bad thing. Just be careful to not get into live bark. (Sorry forgot to answer that the first time and focused on "what else").

The mulch should be helpful. Make sure it is not piled against the trunk. How recently was the garage a d driveway built...And changes to those (or other excavation around d the tree) within the last 10-15 years?

 

[Douggg]

driveway has been there at least 40 years. garage since early 1900's.

 

[ATH]

That is good news!

 

[Jason Douglas]

ATH is right on, carefully remove bark that is dead without contaminating health wood and bark. An Agris bark spray has performed well for me with Phy. cankers in the past. Bleeding usually stops fairly quickly but will also depend on how extensive the cankers are. Make sure that root flair is nice and clean. I've found Phy. to like the weak areas between buttress root sinuses moving up the trunk for some reason.

 

[Jed1124]

As the others have said you are on the right track. Agri Foss will work to suppress the cankers. I would definitely look into air spading a mulch ring with compost amendments if it is feasible. European Beech love an area dedicated to themselves and do not like to compete with turf or other trees.
ATH mentioned Cambistat, also something to consider.

 

[Douggg]

thanks all. do you know what the bugs in the picture are and should i treat somehow for them? i finished mulching under tree today. 6 yards. the other side of the trunk you cant see doesnt look good. my finger pushed through a part of the knuckle root like it was mashed potatoes. i also sprayed up to 9 + feet the agri-fos pentra bark. i'm not sure if drilling would be more effective? also not sure how often i should spray? i never fertilized before. should i spread 10-10-10? i will consider the air spade. is the ring you mention "hub and spoke"? ( https://www.almstead.com/air-spading.html )

 

[Jed1124]

thanks all. do you know what the bugs in the picture are and should i treat somehow for them? i finished mulching under tree today. 6 yards. the other side of the trunk you cant see doesnt look good. my finger pushed through a part of the knuckle root like it was mashed potatoes. i also sprayed up to 9 + feet the agri-fos pentra bark. i'm not sure if drilling would be more effective? also not sure how often i should spray? i never fertilized before. should i spread 10-10-10? i will consider the air spade. is the ring you mention "hub and spoke"? ( https://www.almstead.com/air-spading.html )
View attachment 576037

Do not fertilize as that could "feed" the phytopthora. No need to drill the Agri Foss. Your off to a great start. Do the Agri Foss treatment 2-3 times per year, Spring, Summer, and maybe Fall the first year.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Awesome tree. May want to have some look into your soil density beyong that mulch ring but you're doin good.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Cant ID the bugs for sure but judging by the head and thorax it is one of the true bugs-yes that actually is a real term- usually sucking pests and dont harm much except herbaceous plants.

 

[Douggg]

The part of the trunk where bark flaked off has different densities of wood, some are spongy, a couple I was able to stick my finger through up to the middle knuckle. In addition to cambistat and agri-fos penta-bark, should I do something for bugs or for this spongy area?

 

[Jason Douglas]

You may be looking at Kretzmaria decay in addition to the other problems.

 

[Douggg]

after closer examination, looks like this Kretzschmaria to me. after some web searches, i'm struggling to find any suggestions on how to even slow or minimize it. i guess outlook isn't good, but any suggestions of anything i can do to help?

 

[Jason Douglas]

Xylaraceae are hard to ID in the field but it's my best guess from the pic.

Perhaps colar excavation and/or dead bark removal to get some air into the affected outer areas.

Agrifos might help a bit on the outside but the decay can run fairly deep into the wood.

 

[ATH]

after closer examination, looks like this Kretzschmaria to me. after some web searches, i'm struggling to find any suggestions on how to even slow or minimize it. i guess outlook isn't good, but any suggestions of anything i can do to help?

So, here is what I tell people when they say "there MUST be a way to slow or stop that decay!":

"If I could stop the wood in that tree from rotting, I could stop the wood on your deck or fence from rotting. If I could stop your deck and fence from rotting, you couldn't afford for me to be standing here right now. "

They do put deck/fence lumber in a high temperature/high pressure bath with some pretty nasty chemicals (which would kill a tree) to slow the rot...unfortunately we can't pressure treat trees.

I'd go back to the disease triangle. You need 3 factors for infection:
1) susceptible host
2) pathogen
3) suitable environment

You aren't going to change 1 or 2...so your best bet is to make the environment less conducive to fungal growth - as Jason described above. That won't stop the decay...just give a chance to slow the progress. This may buy you a couple more years out of that tree. Not a bad deal given what you had to start with.

 

[Douggg]

As you can see in the picture in above posts, there is a barn in front of the tree. This may cause some blocking of sunlight getting to the trunk. The barn is directly to the south, so sun path is on other side of barn.

1) Should i cut lowest branches dangling over the garage to help light/air get in towards trunk?

2) Second question is about the Kretzschmaria fungus (picture below). Should i try to remove it/cut it out? Or should i leave it?

3) Third question is where tree is deteriorating, there are bugs are present. Should i control the bugs somehow?

Thanks much.

 

[Jason Douglas]

See what the Agri Fos and pentrabark do to those fruiting bodies first. Problem is the decay deeper you cant get too. Manually removing and even torching the area I've seen done but damaging healthy wood is a concern