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Bur Oak no leaves yet

15 years ago

I have two new Bur Oak trees that the city had planted last fall in my front yard grass area between the sidewalk and the street. The trees always looked a little scraggly but I figured that was how they are. The brown dead leaves stayed on throughout the winter. We pulled off some of the leaves we could reach in hopes to help new leaves grow. Now that's it's Spring, I don't see any new growth yet. When should I expect it? How do I tell if these trees are dead. Should I trim any of it? Anything I can do?

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
well

first... oak leaves fall off as the buds swell.. no need to manually remove them

second.. in my z5 .. the oaks are just starting to bud ... so you may need some more time ...

scratch a limb... just under the bark is the green cambian layer.. if green.. give it time.. recent transplants do weird things...

if the cambian layer is black .. that limb is dead ...

i suggest you call the city .. and by the time they get there.. in a week or two.. you will know if it is going to bud out ...

no trimming.. just wait.... ken
pineresin
15 years ago
A lot of oaks are still in bud here in zone 9 too. No need to get worried yet.

Resin
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Thanks for all of your advice everyone! We decided to cut down the live oak tree (holly?) and painted the stump. We really appreciate all of your input :) @Ken: Here is another picture of the Bur oak. Its lower branches have a tendency to grow at 45 degree angle towards the ground. If we wanted to trim these angled branches, can we do it now if we spray paint the wound? Or should we wait until next winter? I have been reading about oak wilt in Texas and it's making me a bit paranoid.... Thanks again :)
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Thanks. The leaves aren't at the top. They are in the lower part of the tree... Watering it may be tough since it's surrounded by fence (in the corner of backyard) 8 feet spacing... Next door never waters yard. In the back, it's just empty lot. I do water deeply every week or so during the summer if no rain though. All of other trees including shantung maples look very healthy in rocky limestone soil. Bur came from Lowe's so I wouldn't be surprised if it had major girdling problem because I have seen others from lowe's when they were pulled out of ground. They both had big ball of circling roots... Oh well. That was my very first tree I planted. Didn't know any better back then. Dax, Come down to Texas this fall. Plenty of acorns from both trees! I love Q. Buckleyi. Probably my favorite oak tree. I collected a bunch of acorns from it but unfortunately they germinated in the fridge way too early. Need to do a better job of storing them over the winter. You can tell them apart by looking at their buds in fall/winter. Q. Buckleyi has buds that is all equal size (co-dominate). That's why they tend to have multiple trunks in the wild. Q. Shumardii has larger central bud while the lateral buds are smaller. I can also tell which is which that is not suitable for alkaline soil. if the buds are 1/8" of an inch, they will suffer badly in the alkaline soil. It's common around here unfortunately. Buds need to be at least 1/4" to do well here. My neighbor directly across the street has the wrong red oak and it's so ugly. All yellow leaves that are turning brown. Have to see that every day out of window. I provided info about it to them and they haven't done anything for 2 years! Getting worse every year... Damn shame. I need shade from there (hot afternoon sun). Not only that their next door neighbors somehow killed nice sized lacebark elm over last weekend! All leaves are brown right now... Oh well. Gonna be tough digging that bur oak out...
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cacau
15 years ago
Bur Oaks are just starting to leaf out here in Denver. Since you're 800 or more feet higher elevation than here, and given that it's a new transplant, I agree with the others that you shouldn't be concerned yet.
jqpublic
15 years ago
Oaks are all leafed out here, but boy the wait is excruciating sometimes. I'd wait and see. Do you have any oaks around you that are budding? Since the city planted them on the street I am sure there are tons all around your neighborhood/town. Let nature do its thing and let us know what is happening when all the oaks in town are budded and yours still is not. Good luck!!
bunkers
15 years ago
Here in nearby Castle Rock, similar elevations to the springs ... the bur oaks haven't quite started to leaf yet. Its normal that they are late to leaf out, as they are "smarter" than all the early bird trees that get snowed on. Once the snow risk is done (in next week) ... they will get started and leaf in a hurry. You'll have leaves by the end of the month, I predict. All the bur oaks around here are still naked.
thomashton
15 years ago
Here in Northern Utah, 4500' elevation, zone 5a, my burr oak is not yet leafed out. I believe the buds are swelling, but that is about it. Also, my Northern Red Oaks are the same as are my Pin Oaks and swamp white oaks, and upright English oak. My Gambel's oaks aren't even considering it.

Needless to say, oaks are slow--particularly in this cold spring we're having. Give it some time.
snowguy716
15 years ago
My bur oaks are just beginning to show their buds while the aspens and willows are leafing out in a hurry..

oaks are slow.. and bur oaks are even slower.
kristie73
Original Author
15 years ago
Update: Still no leaves. I think I see buds but it still appears like nothing is happening (it looks dead). I scratched a little but didn't notice much green. There is a hint of green though. I don't see any other Bur Oaks in my neighborhood. I don't think... if there are, then they've already leafed out or I'm not well at recognizing it.

Is there anything I put on the ground that might help it along - a fertilizer or something?
kman04
15 years ago
Nothing you can really do but wait, and if you are really dry, give it a bit of water. But don't over water and make it too damp. You are close(or already there) to the time when I'd say you should know 100% or not if it's dead. It's likely it's either dead or has died back quite a bit and might send up shoots from the roots or from the lower trunk, but then again maybe it's just dead. You could always do the scratch test on the main trunk somewhere. If there's no green then it's likely dead.

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