Columnar Hornbeam Ailing

4 years ago

I had eight columnar hornbeam (2 1/2 inch) planted to form an allee four years ago. In the winter of 2020/2021 one of them suffered frost damage to the trunk bark and has gradually been losing the bark. I was advised to leave the wood exposed, so I did. It is now noticeably smaller than the others and the leaves have started browning. I am in Powell, Ohio and up until two weeks ago we had had regular rainfall this spring/summer. The last two weeks have been dry and hot. I have been giving that tree some extra water over the last couple of weeks to compensate for the lost bark, but not a huge amount. Should I water more? Feed? What can I do? Is it done for?

I am perhaps imagining it, but I feel like it has actually always been ‘different’ - flowering and leafing out on a different schedule to the others and having leaves that are smaller, at least in some places. I just noticed that the trunk is oddly bisected, too.

Is the frost damage the whole issue or was it perhaps a poor (runt?!) tree from the start?

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ali_spencer21

4 years ago

Thanks both for the advice.

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Comments (6)

FrozeBudd_z3/4
4 years ago
The tree is on a slightly different schedule due to its sap flow being so hindered by the massive amount of bark damage, in which rot and decay is likely to claim the tree before it ever would have the chance to at all possibly heal ... sorry, but best the tree be removed.
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ilovemytrees
4 years ago
I planted IIRC 16 columnar hornbeams 10yrs ago, their first winter here ALL of them had severe damage from frost crack. They were all planted on the southwest side of our property. I pulled all of them out..if they cant handle one normal winter here then they aren't the right fit for my yard. I'm sorry your tree had similar damage.
ali_spencer21
4 years ago
Golly, I am sorry to hear that, that must have been disappointing. The other seven are doing great (touch wood), which is partly fuelling my concern that the one that was frost damaged wasn't a great tree from the start. The others all have good, solid central trunks, too. Btw, I also have 250+ American hornbeam (bare root) trees planted in a hedge. We had a 20 or so failures over the first couple of years that we replaced and now its 6 foot+ and very dense. One of the attractions of hornbeam was that it‘s pretty tough and tolerant of different conditions, but maybe the columnar ones aren’t perhaps as reliable, possibly?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
"maybe the columnar ones aren’t perhaps as reliable, possibly?"

That has not been my experience. I find them to be tough as nails :-) Fast growing, never any disease or insect issues and tolerant of a range of conditions. 'Fastigiata' is used extensively here for street and freeway plantings but I prefer 'Frans Fontaine' for residential uses as it stays significantly narrower.

They make a great privacy screen as even without leaves in winter, the branch structure is thick and dense.

All 3 forms (straight species, Fastigiata and Frans Fontaine) are included in the PNW's Great Plant Picks - highly recommended plants for area gardeners. (I also grow 'Nana' in a large container).
ilovemytrees
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I agree, Gardengal they're amazing trees, just don't plant them on the southwest portion of your property. lol