Expert: Jim Hyland - 6/25/2009

Question
I have a 50 foot liquid amber.  One year ago I built a planter around it.  The planter is square, with each side 6 feet from the trunk.  I am recently getting die back.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Fill dirt around a tree will compress the soil and the roots and cause the dieback. Soil up on the tree trunk will also do this. I would expect this is the case here. A six foot square planter added around a tree is not a good idea. You might try watering the tree more with 1 inch of water-place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Do this once a week. But the best thing would be remove the planter and the soil from around the tree.