River birch problem

kmooney · Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 13 Location: Eustace,TX

We have a 3 year old river birch in our yard that has a 3" trunk. We are entirely organic and have been for 4 years. The tree was fine last year. This spring it leafed out on a few of the branches, and leaves turned brown and died. There are some leaves on the lower trunk, but it is entirely bare. I assume the tree has died. Can anyone give me an idea why? Is it possible the tree might recover, or should we just take it out?
Thanks,
KMooney

The Ent · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 784 Location: ,

I've found they do fine here with a bit of extra water.

Essentially, to the normal watering the whole yard gets, once a week I'll leave the hose on the ground in its root zone and let it trickle for an hour or so. Mine's also planted down-slope where runoff from the rest of the yard ends there.

They just like a bit of extra water. Last year, if you recall, the first 2/3 of the year had more rain than is normal. This last 9 mos or so we've been under the normal amounts.

Baby it with some extra water (don't go nuts though) and watch what happens.