Liriope’s Muse: Tree Care Tips from a Master Arborist

As arborists we see crimes committed on trees daily, often in the form of egregious over pruning, over application of herbicides, improper mulching, and obvious man-spread disease(via dirty pruning equipment). We not only observe this up close and personal with our customers’ trees, but on our commute through parks, neighborhoods, city streets, and just about everywhere we go. The difference between these assaults and the ones we are about to cover is that most often these happen as a result of ignorance of the biology of trees and lack of experience rather than pure malice.

The following are 3 real accounts given by our arborists, detailing real tree murders they’ve witnessed. Reader discretion advised.

Disclaimer: For the protection of both our Arborists and their customers, we have redacted all names, identifying characteristics, and site images from these accounts.

1. The Tree Murder Next Door

Our arborist arrived on a site to estimate a routine pruning job and assess the overall health of the trees in a customers yard, when the customer pointed out their neighbors’ tree. They expressed their concern that the tree looked diseased and were worried about the possibility of it infecting their trees, so after the arborist finished the assessment on the customers yard, they visited the neighbors yard. What they found next was shocking…

Upon examination of the tree, it was obviously unhealthy and in a state of steep irrecoverable decline, but it wasn’t until the arborist took a closer look at the tree that they found the culprit. There were numerous massive holes drilled into the lower trunk of the tree ranging from an inch to two inches in diameter. These holes were slanted downward into the center of the tree, obviously very meticulously and intentionally done. The inside of the holes were blackened and the outsides were discolored, showing necrosis. Meaning something toxic was poured into the freshly drilled holes of the tree, and by the symptoms and pattern of decline it was definitely some sort of herbicide.

So, someone drilled holes directly into the trunk of a tree in a manner that would ensure the poison they poured in would stay, filled the holes with poison, and ultimately killed the tree. Was this as a result of vandalism, neighbor rivalry, or a person in an HOA who wanted to remove the tree but couldn’t do so unless it was proven “sick”?

2. Killed For The View

We received a call from a customer who was concerned about their dying olive tree, so we dispatched out one of our arborists to go assess the site. Upon speaking with the customer, the grim details of the situation began to unravel. They planted a lovely olive tree in their yard less than 2 weeks before our visit. The day that the tree was planted, they received an anonymous threatening letter from a neighbor telling them that they cannot plant that tree there (on their own property) and that they must remove it immediately, OR ELSE…

Shaken by the letter and proud of the new tree they had rightfully planted on their own property, the customer chose to ignore the threat and carry on with their life. Unfortunately, just three days after planting the customer noticed a drastic decline in her olive tree and surrounding plants in the garden bed. They knew they planted the tree properly and watered it adequately, so they contacted us to figure out what could’ve possibly led to such an abrupt and sudden decline.

Immediately upon close inspection of the site, the arborist noticed the presence of a foreign orange-yellow powdery substance around the base of the olive tree. The arborist also noted the surrounding vegetation near this substance showed signs of sudden and significant decline, including leaf browning, dieback, and loss of vigor. Right away, the arborist suspected herbicide use, so they questioned the customer if they use any sort of herbicide in their landscape and the customer was insistent that they’d never used herbicides before.

With the threatening letter and obvious foreign herbicide application, this was a serious situation that the customer wanted to pursue with the law, so a report needed to be written, and herbicide use needed to be proven.

To confirm the suspected herbicide sabotage, a soil sample was collected from the area with the highest concentration of the powder. A bioassay test was conducted using a Vinca plant. The process was as follows:

• The collected soil was placed in a container with the Vinca plant.

• The plant was watered daily, with leachate (water draining through the pot) collected and reapplied to maintain consistent herbicide exposure.

Within a short period, the Vinca exhibited symptoms including:

• Browning and crisping of leaves
• Flower dieback
• Overall loss of vigor and decline

These symptoms closely paralleled the decline observed in the customers Olive tree. So, based on the physical evidence at the site, the results of the bioassay, and the rapid decline pattern of both the Olive tree and the test plant, it was the professional opinion of the consulting Arborist, that the tree’s decline was in fact caused by herbicide poisoning.

After working with the customer further, it was discovered that it was their next-door neighbor who sabotaged their olive tree because it impaired their perfect waterfront view and they could not have that.

3. Herbicide Bombs

This next account is not based on one single event, rather it is something a few of our arborists have experience with, herbicide bombs.

Herbicide bombs are what we call water balloons filled with lethal concentrations of herbicide and thrown into trees. While this is not especially common, it still happens far too often. We typically diagnose this type of damage by the distinct splash-like patterns that appear throughout the canopy, along with blotchy patches of decline consistent with herbicide injury in landscapes where no herbicides are being used. In some cases, remnants of the balloons can even still be found in the grass below. The natural question, of course, is who would do something like this? Disturbingly, we have found a recurring pattern: in case after case of herbicide bomb damage or death we have encountered, the customer had recently severed ties with their landscaping company…

You read that right, estranged landscaping companies (allegedly) have been known to create these herbicide bombs and throw them at the trees of their ex-customers! So, think twice before hiring, and firing, your landscaping company because there’s a chance your trees may fall victim to a fatal attack such as this.

These real accounts, given by our Arborists, are a sobering reminder that sometimes the greatest threat to a tree is not disease, insects, or drought, but a person with a grudge and some herbicides.