Q: One of my clients has three East Palatka hollies which have been in the ground for more than eight years. These trees appear to be dying and I am not sure what is causing this. I know the pH of the soil is too high and I have applied a sulfur product but the trees are dropping their leaves suddenly and looking quite weak.

A: I had to look at the site to determine what might be the cause of this problem because this tree is so hardy and has few disease problems.In fact, generally we can point to environmental issues as the main reason this tree fails in the landscape.The tree site contained a large manhole which apparently connected several water and/or sewage drains. I suspect the large hollies had little room to grow around these drain pipes and the area probably contained very little quality soil. I gently hand dug an area around one of the trees approximately one foot deep and 2 feet wide. I noticed the large tree had about ¼ to ½ of its roots missing, which would put it under undue stress. The missing roots were probably cut away long ago to make room for the other shrubs surrounding it. However, the remaining roots were beautiful and healthy so it was easy to eliminate a root rot. In addition, I discovered a few circling roots which was indicative of a declining tree. As I was digging I notice large deposits of lime rock, similar to that used when building roads. It is probably this lime rock that is causing the pH of the soil to remain a high pH. This may also be contributing to the decline of some of the surrounding azaleas in addition to lacking good soil for healthy root and shoot growth. The area surrounding this small bed was impervious hardscape (apartment buildings, sidewalks, parking lots and roadways). The bottom line is that these tree roots probably have no place to breath and grow and removing the trees may be a better choice. Consider replacing them with a palm that can take a wider range of pH soils and does not have a large woody root system.

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