Help for ailing trees

Q Did wood stacks stored beneath our walnut tree affect its canopy? KARRIE FULLER, VIA WEBSITE

A Trees are living things and will suffer if mistreated. Storing wood in the area under your walnut tree for the past five years will have resulted in the ground becoming compacted and, as you say, perhaps drying out. Now that you’ve cleared the area, it should start to recover. Try feeding the tree in spring, as it comes into growth, sprinkling some general fertiliser such as chicken pellets on the soil under the outer reach of the branches – where the feeding roots are.

Q Why is fruit tree fungus attracting wasps?

SARAH DANIELS, BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON

A I think your tree is probably an old pear tree, perhaps a remnant of an orchard. It seems to be infected with a fungus that is harming the heartwood and causing sap to leak. This will contain sugar, which attracts the wasps. In short, the tree is slowly dying, but it may take many years. As to the wasps, try to live in harmony with them if you can.

Q What caused the death of lovely stag’s horn sumach? CAROLYN MILLS, BY EMAIL

A Stag’s horn sumach (Rhus typhina) is naturally a short-loved tree that survives by sending up suckers to produce new trunks. It is natural to want to keep it in the original place but if the suckers are constantly removed you run the risk of losing the plant. Suckers are also more often produced if the soil is dry or the roots are physically damaged. The death of your tree may be natural although they are prone to verticillium wilt, which often kills whole stems or branches, and coral spot, which infests dead branches and can then spread to live areas. The fact that it did not shed the flowers last autumn and they withered on the tree suggests it died last year for some reason. Cut down the tree and allow one of the suckers to replace it.