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How do I treat black spot on my silver birch sapling?

Cornwall, United Kingdom Gb

Hello!
I am a relatively new gardener, having lived in a flat most of my life.At last I have a garden.It has extremely sandy soil and faces southwest. Last year I planted a silver birch sapling. It has grown a lot but seems to have black spot (can trees get black spot?)as quite a few leaves have turned yellow with black spots. Please can anyone advise what I should do about it?




Answers

 

Sounds like either a fungal infection or a bacterial infection. If the tree is small, you can buy a fungicide (make sure it doesn't say you can't use it on Birch) and spray the tree. Pick off really badly affected leaves and dispose of them. As you have sandy soil, you should take extra care to keep the tree watered, particularly for its first two years, so at least a gallon a week, or twice a week. It wouldn't hurt to stir in a bit of Growmore, or you could water on Phostrogen, but not past the middle of July. Birch doesn't like root disturbance, so be careful not to stir the soil too far down.

20 Jun, 2009

 

Thank you very much, that's really helpful. I'll try all those things!

22 Jun, 2009

How do I say thanks?

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