Knowledgebase
River birch branches #751655
Asked May 23, 2021, 7:20 PM EDT
Ottawa County Michigan
Expert Response
Have the leaves been falling, or is this all the leaves that appeared this spring?
Did the tree had sparse foliage last year or in previous years?
How often is the tree watered?
River birches typically lose leaves in July due to heat and water stress. ... The name “river birch” indicates the environment this tree loves: moist riverbanks. When the soil around its roots gets dry, the tree quickly shows its unhappiness by dropping leaves.
On May 25, 2021, at 09:58, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
Your best resource for diagnosing and treating your tree is to consult a certified arborist. An arborist is a certified and generally insured expert in trees and their problems. He or she can examine your tree and make recommendations regarding the health of the tree, any needed judicial pruning, and whether or not (in his opinion) it should be removed. You can find a certified arborist in your area here:
Click on "Find an Arborist" at the top of the page; then click on United States from the pull-down menu. Then enter your State and City. This should bring up a list of certified arborists nearest to you. Or you may be able to locate one under "Tree Services" in your local Yellow Pages.
In addition to a problem that may have been created by improper planting, here some other possibilities for you to consider:
Have any herbicides or pesticides been used on the tree, the lawn under it, or other nearby plants?
Have there been any environmental stresses on the tree such as the removal of a large shade tree, heavy equipment used above the roots, etc.?
Each spring, river birch trees are visited by two common pests - aphids and a caterpillar look-alike known as the sawfly larva. While these insects will not kill the tree, they can cause leaves to drop. Have you seen any evidence of these? (The link below will tell you all about them.)
https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20090521/News/605056294/WM
Also check for evidence of wood eating bronze birch borer. These pests do exactly as their name describes, they eat away at the river birch (Betula nigra) leaving behind a damaged and unhealthy tree. It’s not unusual to see a birch tree that has been stressed for a number of years be finished off by this pest. Look for tunnels under the bark. Here is additional information:
https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-50/E-50.html