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So we have a neighbour who’s not very keen on our trees as they block a bit of the sun some of the times. We noticed our cypress in our garden on the side bordering with the neighbour has dried and looking worse for wear.

Then today we discovered this white powder-like substance on the soil. It doesn’t look like mold, it’s not hairy and not completely white but more powdery and off-white with tiny crystal-like particles when examined up close. The way the powder is on the soil makes it look like it’s been tossed from the neighbours side but I’m posting here before I jump the gun and rule out any natural causes first. If not natural then I’m pretty sure the neighbour is trying to kill our trees!

Also, if not a natural cause, whether anyone knows of a common substance that resembles what’s in the picture which could be used to kill a tree? Any help would be much appreciated.

Tree with white powder around base of trunk

Close-up of the powder

Chenmunka
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TheGoodNeighbour
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  • Where are you located? Northern Hemisphere tropics? Southern Hemisphere? – Jurp Dec 07 '22 at 22:10
  • @jurp thank you, in the UK, South East England – TheGoodNeighbour Dec 07 '22 at 22:30
  • Salt would be typical, but limit yourself to looking at the crystals with a microscope to see if they are cubic, no tasting the poison. Might be any sort of herbicide that comes as a "fine white powder." – Ecnerwal Dec 07 '22 at 23:19
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    Get a sample and store it in a glass jar, just in case there’s rain and it gets washed away. And remove as much as you can immediately, if necessary including the top layer of soil. – Stephie Dec 08 '22 at 06:25
  • Impossible to tell from a picture, but looks like commercial Sodium Chlorate intended as a herbicide. Don't get it on your fingers when cleaning it up, don't let any pets near it, – Chenmunka Dec 08 '22 at 08:26
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    Does this obnoxious neighbor have any prized plants? Oh, right, you're a good neighbor. But surely a good neighbor would return the "fertilizer" that "inadvertently" went over the fence to a neighbors prized plant? ;^) More seriously, look for and document any sticking to the foliage (or fence) higher up that would support the "thrown over the fence" theory. Might also want to lay down paper on the soil to make cleaning up any further abuses easier after cleaning this one up. – Ecnerwal Dec 08 '22 at 17:07
  • If it's fairly soluble then it is probably some sort of chemical from the neighbour. I would return the favour. I once had a neighbour that tied a bottle of poison to one of my trees to slowly drip into a cut. If he had asked me I would have happily pruned it, even though it was not that close to the boundary. I grabbed the bottle, topped it up and threw it into his swimming pool. And I dropped a notice in his letter box - that next I would report it to the police. – Rohit Gupta Jan 28 '23 at 02:05

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