Hi there, After a ground excavation for an above ground pool (about 4-6 inches down) some of the roots on one side of my mature cherry tree were broken and the tree is now in shock, the leaves are wilted. Is there anything I can do for it now? Is it possible it will recover? Thank you.
It may come back. Most well established trees will bounce back from some moderate damage. The things that will affect this are how much damage was done to it, whether or not the roots remained uncovered for a prolonged period, and what kind of weather/climate you are in. Look at things like root pruning for established trees, and see if you can find anything on your particular type of tree. It may turn out that this was good for your tree and it simply needs more moisture. The alternative to it being in a period of decline before bouncing back is that it may be on its way out. But it all depends on the level of damage to your tree.
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately the tree looks worse, we had some heavy rain so I wont water it for now and I will have a look at root pruning. I did cover the exposed roots which were not exposed for very long. The leaves may all fall off but hopefully it wont die and will come back again next spring.
Can ya post a picture VGH? I'm curious what percentage of the ground under the tree was removed. The timing could have been better, summer heat is hard on trees. ug, I'm almost ready to ask if anyone thinks fertilization is a good idea. Its one I typically despise for large growing trees. BUT......
Trees don't exactly go into "shock" but I get your message. It may have been better if roots were cut rather than mangled or broken. It would be hard to offer any approximation or odds without photos of the tree, or a view of the exposed roots.
Thanks for the responses, They dug down about 6 inches so I don’t think it’s much of a percent under the tree. Yes the timing could have been much better, it has been very hot and it has rained quite hard the last few days. Sorry, I guess shocked is not the right word but I am glad you get the idea. It’s too bad the roots were mangled the way there were, I covered them the day it happened. The pile of dirt at the bottom is where I covered some roots. Some sand covered a small one and possibly more. It does not look that bad from the ground but the leaves on the tree do look quite wilted.
Am I understanding the picture right in assuming the tree is about a foot away from the side of the pool? So the pool in effect runs under 1/3 the canopy of the tree? Maybe I'm just not seeing things correct.
Thanks for posting again. Yes, you are correct, the tree is about a foot away from the pool and it may even be as much as 1/2 the canopy of the tree. I know it may sound odd to have the pool that close to the tree, but it’s a small above ground pool (to be taken down in the fall) and only the grass was supposed to be removed, no digging was supposed to be done. I should have been more careful with who I hired to do the job.
Your tree is most likely not going to recover from that if it is very deep. How deep did they dig? Get a ruler and find out. Very probably they damaged more roots than you could see exposed when they dug and the soil filled into areas they had already dug out. Often when you hire someone who does not know precisely what they are doing and does dig that close to a tree, if they feel resistance to their shovel, they will push down harder until they cut whatever is in their way without consulting you. You probably should have put that elsewhere.
Hi Fen, I took out a ruler and it’s 4.25 to 4.5 inches. They likely did damage more roots then I was able to see, I am sure they just covered them up with the sand. Due to city by laws (pools having to be a certain distance from the fence etc.) and my small yard, that was the only place the pool could go, I did have a pool company do the work and they were suppose to just remove the grass - about 1 inch and then add the sand and level it and then of course fill the pool. It’s all too bad it turned out this way; I just wanted a pool for my kids. So far the tree is hanging in, the leaves are still wilted but none have turned brown or fallen off, so I am really hoping it will make it. The weather has been cooler and it has rained so hopefully that will be helpful too.
