Live Oak is sick

15 years ago

I have a 100+ year old live oak that is pretty bad off. We just bought a 5 year old house and it seems that the previous owners didn't take care of the construction damage that was done to the tree. At first in October we did a deep root fertilization. But over the next month the tree started to drop it's leaves. It seems that I neglected to water the tree enough during the winter months. Earlier this month I asked an arborist to come out and review the tree. He ended up injecting the tree with Vigor53 and Imicide 22. It seems that because of the construction damage, the tree now had minor borer issues.

The good news is that the tree seems to have leaf buddings now on select branches, but not on all of them. So the question is, what should I be doing now in order to give the tree the best chances for survival? Deep root fertilization? At what ratio (5-10-5)? anything else?

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Comments (6)

pineresin
15 years ago
Soil decompaction would be the best you can do. Look up 'terravent' and see if there are any contractors offering this in your area. It involves blasting air into the ground under high pressure to break up the compaction caused by heavy machinery, etc., and can work very well. Whether it might be too late to help your tree much is hard to know.

Resin
jean001
15 years ago
The truly bad news is that it's more than difficult to remedy previous compaction damage. It's often not possible

The borers are often the final blow to stressed trees.

Sorry.
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Hey guys thanks for replying, I was beginning to think I was going to have to repost so I stopped following along after a few days. Anyways, yes I know how to keep it watered, it is in a spot in the lawn that is a short throw from my huge rain barrel and another hose bib. It had no problems leafing out last year and put on some growth right out of the gates. This year it leafed out late and maybe 25% of the branches have little or no leaves, including the top. Wouldn't a disease like the ones mentioned mean that it will eventually die completely? I'd rather get it over with if so. thanks again
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First, I nominate halds to create a template for others to submit their issues, based on this. ======>>>> i will second that emotion .... i would recommend a soil test ... contact your local soil conservation office or Ag office or extension office.. in the yellow pages under government ... EVERY county in the US has all three ... even the big cities ... then i would ask.. with that absolutely perfect lawn.. do you use weed and feed??? .. is so.. stop it ... its a good product to start a lawn with.. but just isnt necessary any more ... get a spray tank and just spray the few weeds you get each year ... and then.. everything else dan said .... i think bottom line.. all that is needed is for you to get it out of your head.. that it is sick ... should i say my kid is sick, because the neighbors kid is a different shade of tan??? a different shade of green??? you have made a one year observation of a what.. 80 year old tree ... keep watching for the next decade or two ... and then maybe we can come to some conclusions ... but in the mean time.. lets see if the soil is deficient in some way ... and go from there ... even regarding the iron application.. the soil test will tell us if that is an issue .... good luck ken
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
personally .... i wouldnt invest anything else in this tree ... no matter what any snake oil salesman wants to offer ...

other than perhaps.. watering the lawn .... which translates into watering the tree ... and any fert put on the lawn.. is more than enough for the tree to steal from the lawn ...

its just that no one ever convinced me that any kind of injection is of any value ... let me put it this way .. how can the applicator PROVE that he injected anything that was even close to the roots??? how do you know he didnt just inject it into the water table ....

DEEP ROOT INJECTION ... whats the point.. odds are.. a majority [90%] of the roots are in the first foot of the soil.. so exactly what is deep about that ....

and as noted ... whats the point of injecting the trunk of the tree for the bug.. when the problem is the health of the tree rather than the bug... even if you kill all the bugs.. you still wont have a healthy tree ...

if you get the inkling to continue to throw money at this thing.. please come back and discuss what is being offered .. and at what price .... if it were me.. i would be saving the money for potential removal ...

good luck

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lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Are the root flares exposed? Often times, I've seen construction guys pile on too much dirt around the trees. What else... Deep core aerator (longer than the typical ones used for lawn), apply fungal dominated compost and organic fertilizer. Water deeply every two weeks. Hope for best.
dricha
15 years ago
I'm assuming you are in central Texas. At this point, just water once a week until you get some rain. In March/April your tree will drop even more leaves. After that, you will have a good idea of how your tree is doing once it begins putting on new leaves. They will be pretty small at first.
redrhodes
Original Author
15 years ago
A follow up post. I am in Central Texas (Austin).

It's now spring and the live oak has budded out in a number of spots and looks much better. Some branches look to be thriving but others seem to be dead. But I do have some concern over the dead branches. Should I cut them out now or should I leave it alone? I've had an arborist come in and he says to leave it be for now. A second opinion never hurt though. Anyone?

a few pictures:
A very healthy branch

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a "sucker"
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There are many buds here but also dead branches. It's very hard to see the buds in this picture.

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Live Oak is sick

Comments (6)

pineresin

jean001

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Live Oak is sick

Comments (6)

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