I finally figured out why that old elm near the creek was struggling

I was out at a property in Maplewood last week and kept noticing this big American elm with really thin canopy and dieback on one side. The homeowner thought it was Dutch elm disease, but I took a closer look at the root flare. Turns out the previous landscaper buried the root collar about 6 inches deep with fill dirt from a driveway project. That extra soil suffocated the roots and kept moisture trapped against the trunk. I cleared the excess dirt and exposed the flare, and the tree already looks better after just a week. Has anyone else run into buried root collars causing more problems than pests or disease?

2 comments

2 Comments

thea2461mo agoTop Commenter

Saw the same thing on a maple last spring. Cleared the dirt and it bounced back quick.

joseph_hart1mo ago

Interesting. I used to think that once dirt got piled up around the base of a tree, the damage was pretty much done and you couldn't undo it. But my brother had a similar thing happen with a young oak about two years ago. He cleared the soil away from the trunk and within a month you could already see new growth. I guess I was wrong about that. The roots just needed some air and the bark needed to dry out. Now I tell anyone who mentions a tree in trouble to check for soil buildup first.