[kinnari100]

Could anybody offer advice here. A number of years ago (dont know how many exactly but suspect 3/4) kerosene oil tank leaked onto a young beech hedging killing a number of plants. What I was wondering was would the oil be gone out of the soil now and the area replanted with beech or would I have to replace the soil? There is a copper beech tree in the middle of the dead hedging and it has partially survived, its struggling, if I feed it will it recover? any advice or hints would be welcomed. thanks Kinnari100

[BlackBird]

Oil will persist in soil for many years. If you have a heavy clay soil then it will last longer than 4 years. For the hedge section, I,d say you would be best to replace the soil to a depth and width of 2ft.
Your tree may be struggling but it may still have a chance. Aerate the soil around the tree by jabbing a garden fork into the ground and wiggling it slightly. There are posts on this fork aeration in the lawn section of Irish Gardeners. You should also apply a general purpose tree and shrub fertiliser to the root zone of the tree to give it a pick me up. Fertiliser is also known to speed up the break down of oil within soil.
Hope you save the tree. Copper beech are a fine tree.

[kinnari100]

Hi Blackbird, thank you for your reply. I will give your suggestions a go - havnt anything to loose at this stage anyway. Ta again.