One way to describe trees is as a big battery. As trees convert sunlight to starch, they store excess energy in their woody parts for later use. A vital tree stores converts more energy than it needs resulting in a surplus. A highly stressed tree is consumes more energy. At some point stress becomes strain, an irreversible condition. If this continues for too long, the tree begins to decline.
Decline in trees can sometimes take years. Tree death often occurs long after the initial contributing factor takes place. Because of the timing of tree growth many trees "die" in late spring. Why? One of the biggest energy uses for a tree is pushing out new leaves and extending new growth. If your tree has "just" died, it may be that in order to continue growth, it has used up all of it's available energy.
Some avoidable things that cause stress:
- Overpruning or malpruning
- Disturbance of root zones
- Wounding trunk and roots, often by lawn care equipment
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