I suspect time is of the essence, and it may already be too late. Trees do die, and just like people, for a variety of reasons. It is imperative to find out what is ailing your tree. Hire a certified arborist to collect samples and submit to a lab qualified to do such testing.

I recently lost a large Northern Pin Oak to disease, so I know how painful it is. The challenge is to set emotions aside and focus on finding the cause and what treatment options are available The verdict is not always what you want to hear, but otherwise you’re just guessing..

I don't think a certified arborist did that mutilation. A guy with a bucket truck probably.

As lacey says, it's been butchered. Do you know if the decline was after the butcher job? If so, that would prb'ly be the reason.

I hired an arborist (and I made sure they were certified/licensed) to come prune some branches on my pin oaks b/c I wanted more light in areas of my yard. The guy said my trees were so healthy he refused the job!

Where are you located and what time of year was that topping done? Anyone who would do that is likely unaware of oak wilt.

tj

I agree the guy that "trimmed" the tree, did not do it any favor.

My recommendation would be to let it go for about five years and then decide if it is dead.

While they was a bradford pear, the trees were trimmed heavily several years ago, When I said heavily, I mean only 3 or 4 feet of the main branches remained. I thought the tree had been killed. That was about 6 years ago, to day when they are leafed out they are nice looking trees.

@maackia if we hire someone to collect samples and send to a lab what usually happens next?
Thanks for everyone’s comments. We agree that the guy that claimed to be an arborist and trimmed our tree wasn’t up to snuff. The tree was already not looking great when we hired him but has definitely gotten worse since.

I doubt it's oak wilt but a close up of the bark is needed. Any signs of patches of bark coming off the branches? I identified Oak wilt on my neighbors oak trees last fall and he had it confirmed this spring that required a dozen mature Oaks to be cut down. I removed the downed trees last week for firewood.

But what I see is a slow death by a thousand cuts. Cutting all the top and crown canopies off has caused extreme stress and has starved the tree of the sugars it needs to survive. It's not able to photosynthesize the sugars required to survive and what needs to be stored as starch in the roots for next years spring growth, and it's desperately suffering. No more than a third of the top or crown canopy should ever be removed from an oak tree.

The leaders or tips of any lateral branch, main trunk or twigs are the only parts which will produce new growth, and most has been removed by your trimmer. Now it doesn't have enough leaves to photosynthesize but must also support a massive amount of living cambium and phloem around the heartwood of the tree including the roots which are usually twice the size of the tree. When a branch no longer has a need and can't produce new growth or sugars the tree will drop that branch, and very common. So be aware you may loose branches as it tries to survive. This may sound odd to you but cutting off some of those big branches may help it along, but find a QUALIFIED arborist to assist and decide.

your arborist should have his license pulled.. if they had one.. for topping the tree.. he shortened its life by decades.. and im not sure it accomplished anything to solve whatever issue it had before... i hope the rest of the peeps said such...

what a hack...

i would not spend another penny on trying to save this tree... ignore it until it dies.. or you can save enough money to have it removed....

contact your local COUNTY extension office.. and ask if there are any locale oak conflagrations that might easily explain whats going on .. local peeps usually know what going on locally...

welcome to the forums...

ken