Subject: Dead & dying street trees

From: [email-masked] (Steven E. Singleton)
Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 22:11:28 GMT

Two common horse chestnuts, about 80 years old, live in my parking
strip in Portland, OR. One of these trees is nearly dead, the other
looks like it is about a year behind.  The symptoms are general, not
specific to a part of the trees.  Last year the dead tree's foliage
was about 1/2 normal, and smaller in size, few flowers set nuts and
the nuts that set fell off early.  This year there may be 20 leaves on
the whole tree.   The other tree looks like the dead one did last
year.  We have had a drought for a couple of years, but other horse
chestnuts in the immediate neighborhood have survived just fine 

We have smelled natural gas down by the street for a couple of years
now.  The gas company knew about the leak, but considered it minor,
and never did anything about it.  I have had the gas company out to
test for gas and sure enough they detected gas in the soil all around
the tree.    Now that the trees are dead or dying, I suspect that
natural gas might be the cause.

How to prove it?  Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

---

From: [email-masked] (Phil Graham)
Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 19:03:56

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Steven E. Singleton) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (Steven E. Singleton)
>Subject: Dead & dying street trees
>Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 22:11:28 GMT

>How to prove it?  Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

Harris, in Arboriculture, describes gas damaged plants as having sparse shoots 
and small leaves.  Roots may develop a bluish, water soaked appearance.  Soils 
may become blue gray or black, and have rotten egg sulphur smell, like typical 
poorly aerated swamp soils.

Sounds like gas from what you've described.

Phil Graham, Certified Arborist