What Is the Value of an Orchard?

A damaged tree is worth saving.

It is difficult to put a price on a tree with damage on it. SabbirDigitall/Shutterstock

Q: I watched your video on willow trees with black canker disease. What if the disease got to the tree trunk, but there are some new branches coming out from the bottom? The leaves are all gone from the rest of the tree. Can I save the tree?

A: You might be able to save the tree. Pick a branch that is strong and straight and can be pulled up or staked up to become the new trunk with the least amount of bending and curving. Cut off the old trunk. You might cut off the other branches that you are not using for a trunk, or wait a year to cut them off to see whether the one you are using to make a new trunk works out.

You will eventually want to cut them off to force the tree to send all the nutrients into the one you have picked. Since it has the support of the whole root system, it can grow fast.

Wipe the pruner blades or saw blade with rubbing alcohol between cuts to help prevent the spread of the disease. It may be that the disease has already spread to below the area of the branches you are trying to save and the whole tree will die, but we won’t know that now, so trying to save the tree is worth the effort.

Q: How would you determine the value of the fruit trees and shrubs that were oversprayed with Liberty herbicide from a neighboring field? Leaves are curling or dying after one week. Different levels of damage are seen depending on the distance from the sprayer.

My trees range in age from three to eight years. Dozens were oversprayed. Leaves have spots, and some have turned yellow and fallen off. Numerous trees had fruit. I’m not sure how many will die, but damage has been done. It is very sad to look at, as I’ve planted and cared for all these trees. It was way too windy to spray that day.

A: This can be tough. You are right, it is a sad sight to see. I have seen damage like this, but not this extensive. Contact your state department of agriculture. They will have inspectors who need to follow up with the company or person who did the spray to help prevent them from doing this again. There may be fines involved, but even if not this time, the state needs to know about this to help them track any other damage the company causes. The inspectors might also be able to help you with creating a value for the plants based on other orchards.

A Realtor may be able to help you figure out whether there would be a price difference on the property, comparing the landscape with and without trees.

A landscaper or garden center could give you a price for replacing the trees. The maximum price for replacing the plants can help determine the lower price of damaged plants. The value of a plant that has a 50 percent dieback is more than 50 percent if the plant is part of a landscape bed. The simple replacement value of a plant doesn’t take into account the age of the plant, how long it will take to get back to full size, the loss in value for that whole time it is not back to full size, or the loss of any fruit production.

Keep the plants watered if the weather turns dry. Don’t add fertilizer yet, as we don’t want to stress the trees into trying to grow when they don’t want to. The final damage may not be known until next spring.

Courtesy of Jeff Rugg