Flowering Crab Tree suddenly dies

Discussion in 'Woody Plants' started by destalee79, Jun 26, 2006.

  1. destalee79

    destalee79 Member

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    I have a friend that had a 3 yr old flowering crab tree that was doing great it flowered and everything all of a sudden one day it just dried up and died it had a split in it at the base that wasnt there before and all the bark had fallen off around the base. when she dug it up there was ants all over the root ball.

    Now this year she had another flowering crab tree that was 2 yr old and the same thing happened it was doing great then suddenly dired up, split at the base, and died. This time there wasn't any ants in the root ball.

    Does anyone have any ideas about what could possibly be going on here?? She isn't spraying any chemicals or anything. the bark thats missing seems to be about seven inches at the base
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Perhaps her trees are cracking open in hard frosts. Is she down in a hollow where cold air accumulates or on an exposed ridge where it is sunny and windy? If it is frost cracking the tendency will be for the damage to be on the more sunny side of the trunk. While it seems unexpected for this to happen nursery-grown trees are trained up on tall clear stems that the same kinds might not produce in an exposed position in the wild. In nature there is a general tendency for trees to be drawn up by shade, grow low-forking and bushy (with low branches) in full sun. What happens with each individual varies with the species and the situation, of course.
     

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