Hello, This Douglas fir as attached in the photo, is located on a rocky slope of Bowen Island, BC. We would like to retain this beautiful tree, however, are concerned for it's safety, due to the pavement and soil back fill on one side and the large rock retaining wall on the other side. We would be grateful for advice as to ensuring the health of this tree. Thank you!
That is stressful for the tree. Remove all of the rocks and all of the fill out of the drip zone a.s.a.p. Nothing should be on the roots or against the trunk. Can you post pictures of the canopy, particularly the top of the tree?
Thanks David for your response. I attached a full length pic of the tree including the canopy. Let me know if you need more detail in a particular area. I also attached two more pics of the fill side of the tree. We understand that the back fill has been in place for about 15 years. The rock retaining was built around 2008-2009 time frame. One concern we have is if we remove the fill would that affect the stability of the tree.
Your crown appears to be healthy. On the pictures of the lower trunk, you can see poor taper. The trunk should curve out at the bottom, but your tree is covered by fill in this area. I'll bet it has good taper but it's just covered up. Good taper helps with the trees stability. We're out of storm season so if you remove the fill now the tree should be fine. Right now it is slowly being killed by the fill and the retaining wall weight sitting above it's normal root mass. That fill soil may be making the lower bark soft and punky too. That can lead to stress,diseases and insect damage. If you find epicormic roots growing out of the trunk above where the normal taper is, just cut those off. Keep the tree watered during the hot days in summer. There is no way for us to tell if removing the fill will effect the trees stability. That's an interesting concern. I haven't had a problem in the past with fill removal, but we don't know what is going on inside the tree or under the ground. Trees self correct and adapt well when they aren't stressed. It had already developed a stabilizing root system to protect it from severe weather situations long before the fill was placed on it.
