Description:

Girdling occurs when roots or something (wire or rope) is wrapped tightly around the trunk, choking the flow of water and nutrients.

Symptoms:

The symptoms include reduction of leaf size, branches developing fall color earlier than normal, and eventually dying of that branch. If tree has excessive girdling, the whole tree may die.

Control:

You can correct the girdling by digging down to check the root system and removing the aggravating roots. Then fertilize the tree and water normally. You may or may not save the entire tree, depending on the damage.