Is the yellowing uniform across the leaf, or is it more pronounced along the veins? If it is more pronounced along the veins, the leaves are likely chlorotic - possibly a result of too much alkalinity. High alkalinity inhibits certain plants' uptake of necessary trace elements. You might want to feed the tree trace minerals. Green Light Iron and Soil Acidifier works well for me on all acid loving plants. http://www.greenlightco.com/ Follow the directions. I'd strongly recommend avoiding any product which contains more than a trace amount of nitrogen.

If the yellowing is uniform, it could be many problems, a common one over watering and associated root rot. Check the root ball - if it is more than damp, stop watering but don't let it dry out completely.

Good luck!

The vein itself is yellow but the fraction of leaf immediately next to the vein is green, about 1/16th of an inch of green, in the groove right by the vein. The leaf itself is uniformly yellowish. I'll let up on the watering and keep checking the soil. Would it be a good idea to feed the tree trace minerals anyway?

Posting a picture might help.

As for feeding it trace minerals, it likely wouldn't hurt as long as you follow the instructions. Even if the soil isn't too alkaline, one dose is not gonna materially change the ph and the trace elements might be helpful if the plant is stressed. I routinely put Greenlight on all trees and bushes transplanted into my landscape and have nursed many highly stressed plants back to vigor in this manner. Again, please don't use a product with nitrogen. Greenlight Iron and Soil Acidifier is good stuff but I can't speak for other products because I haven't used them.

Or just plant shumard oak tree instead.

Stopped by our local nursery to see if they stock Greenlight Iron and Soil Acidifier. Nope. What they do have has 11% nitrogen so I didn't get it. What does the nitrogen do to the trees that you don't recommend it?
I see Greenlight also sells Root Stimulator & Starter. Do you think that would help too?

Personally, I'd just get rid of the tree and find something else more suitable for alkaline soil like Shumard Oak. It gets harder to fix it when it gets bigger. IMO, not worth the hassle. I'd never use harsh chemicals that ruins soil biology like soil acidiers which has good amount of sulfur which is basically fungicide. Ironically, fungi is responsible for lowering pH in the soil with the help of mulching....

Nitrogen stimulates foliage growth. Not desirable and potentially harmful in a recently transplanted tree, particularly this late in the summer.

With respect to lou_midlothian's comment, I wouldn't get rid of the tree if it is native to your area. Plus, you haven't established the fact that the soil is too alkaline underneath the eventual root zone of the tree. Obviously, if the soil is very alkaline, you might want to reevaluate your choice of plants. Also, Greenlight is not a harsh chemical. It contains, primarily, trace nutrients and a small bit of sulfur.

You can buy Greenlight on line. Do a google. Ace sells it.

Sounds like chlorosis.

Also check for simple ferrous sulfate(Iron sulfate), you may find it in a place that sells fertilizer to farmers. Apply about 20-25 lbs./1000 square feet, water in very well

I think I have finally figured out how to post pictures.
If I do it right, you can see the poor things leaves and I hope some of you can figure out if it is overwatering or too alkaline soil?

Well, since I paid over $100 for it, I will try what I can until it dies. Looked for shumard oak in our local nursery, no luck. I'll be planting more trees around our place next spring. Will definately keep Shumard in mind!

In the meantime, any suggestions about this tree would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:383152}}

Here is another picture, full view of it.
Would you stake it, to make it grow straighter?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:383153}}

was it planted leafed out or dormant? it was planted this spring, right???

how have you kept it watered?

if leafed out .... it may be a function of transplanting ... and i wonder how it could change color so fast ...

was it potted or ball and burlap?

how did the soil with it compare to your soil .. and what did you do with the attached soil ... whats your native soil ... e.g. did you take a pot of peat and stick it in a hole of clay ????

is there a chance an animal has been watering it for you ....?

ken

My first thought is actually nitrogen deficiency just as a reminder once again: providing nitrogen after August 1st can result in the death of a tree next year because the wood could go into winter without having "hardened off" is the term used and thus the wood/bark and buds for leaf growth as well as branch growth) would be affected. Think of Nitrogen this way: Heavy amounts will certainly green up your tree (this is what lawn company's do to make a lot of money - they fertilize as often as up to every two weeks with a lot of "liquid applications") but, in order to keep the leaves green, they are as the first responder notes, using too much nitrogen while the probelm most-likely is occuring in that the uptake of other "trace minerals" isn't quite happening.

Chlorosis can be ruled out immediately upon examination of your photos.

Lou is 100% right that you have the wrong tree. The correction of soil alkalinity (nitrogen boosts as to temporarily-only correct the problem (nitrogen is a significant by-product of pelletized Sulphur ("pelletized" is the old farm word I know) and of course Sulphur helps to aid in the recovery of chlorosis/chloratic symptoms but once again, you're dealing with "minerals and in all forms really as these are the building blocks for all living things." Minerals of course are also found in water... There's a lot to break down in this type of question to come to a logical answer, but still one that's a guess at best.

The "Green Light" products offered are 'organic' however Sulphur while it seems and I did'nt know this as actually "inorganic" - yet the Department of Agriculture deems it as "organic" , or at least that's how I'm interpreting Lou's words currently along with a lot of other erroneous information I've either learned reading or from previous bosses, etc-.

I used to spray mainly fruit trees with an organic firm and we used "liquid copper" as well as "Liquid Sulphur." And I recall my boss mentioning that the USDA has deemed these to be, "organic." Those words always stuck in my mind even though I was getting this "organic" crap all over my body, in my skin, and in my lungs. Not pretty folks.

I'll let Lou sort this one out for me as I now don't understand precisely his comment. I do believe that he is trying to make a distinction among Sulphur in bottle or hard form, versus "natural formation of Sulphur" derived from decayed mulch. Is this right Lou?

Overwatering can also be ruled out in my opinion because this produces the outside of a leaf to brown-up. In this person's case, large patches are observed.

I still stick to my guns and say that the splotchy-burning is a reult of drought and that your tree is suffering from a lack of trace minerals which could include nitrogen.

Do keep it watered once a week for a good while and if you have time, let it almost dry between waterings. Continue this schedule until this time next year at a minimum if you're going to be stubborn by keeping this tree.

It's not a hopeless case, but it is something you'll need to continue addressing.

Regards,

Dax

Dax,

I thought that product has high amount of sulfur but after checking the label out, it's not so bad. I've seen other soil acidifer product with a lot more sulfur. in any case, sulfur is fungicide. It can kill off beneficial fungi including myco fungi that help trees stay healthy. What I meant by not being worth the trouble trying to keep wrong tree for the soil, it also means that you might have to spend hundreds of dollars trying to fix the alkaline problem and potentially ruin the soil in the process. It's just not worth it. The correct red oak grows much faster than the wrong red oak. Trust me... I live on caliche soil and have observed this.

I have posted this article several times whenever somebody comes on this forum complaining why their red oak look like that... It has helped me look for what I need to find a suitable red oak that will grow well in alkaline soil. I've been down that road.

www.cityofirving.org/inspections/red-oak.html

- It proved to be correct in my experience with two red oak labeled as Shumard oak. It is a big problem going on around here. Apparently, a lot of red oak labeled as shumard oak that are being planted aren't thriving in alkaline soil (caliche). Either they are not true shumard oak or the seed source came from mother tree in acidic soil.

i would wait till winter and take a look at the buds. If they are tiny according to the article, get rid of it and get another tree from a tree farm or reputable tree nursery, not big box stores during the winter and look at the size of the buds.

" sulfur is fungicide"

Wow this is getting deep:-)!!! While the use of sulfur as a fungicide on the top of the plant, does not always mean it does the same in the soil....we are dealing with just a different microflora....how it works on the top does not always translate into the same on the bottom.
The nutrient Sulfur in our soils have changed over the years as far as input (acid rain)...very soluble in a lot of soil types, but very importent in plant nutrition(cheap green has always been my desription). DO NOT rule out changing the pH of the soil since this is based on years of growing in a different world/enviroment/input(what if the books were written when the soil was more acidic because of industrial input...acid rain??????).
There are a lot of Quercus(Oaks) that are tolerent of a wider variety of soil pH.....some are not....simple changes can make a big difference, depends on what you want to put into it

According to most websites, Chinkapin oak is usually tolerant of alkaline soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata

I believe you lou. Thanks for the alkalinity/Oak mixup article as well. I gave this my best-shot as I tried to eliminate one thing after another.

Schmoo - I already know you're a smark cookie so thanks for chipping in.

And in general, a good thread... made me think about a lot of things in general as I know nothing of Oaks. Those leaves didn't show the trademark chlorosis but now that I think about it, most of the Pin Oaks here look the same and I call that chlorosis! Coulda by-stepped a lot of my thoughts. Now I know!

Dax

Ahhh Bummer! I did lousy research on finding a tree. Mostly I was going by recommendation from the owner of the nursery. I mentioned clay soil, but don't remember if I even mentioned alkaline! live and learn; some lessons just cost more! Thank you all very much for your help!

Here is a picture of the place I'm wanting a tree. Try to provide shade for our driveway and poultry pen, plus do a little screening of the pen...

Will check buds next year as suggested and see what the tree looks like next year. Might have to replace with an elm sprout if DH gets involved! I just wanted something prettier and different!

In the meantime I'll do more research for what trees do ok in alkaline/clay. So far I've come up with:
Elm
Norway Maple
Linden
Amur Corktree
Common Mulberry
Northern Catapala

Do you know of others Z 5a tolerates alkaline/clay?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:383154}}

It looks like Bur oak is also listed as tolerant to alkaline soil, as well as many other extremes. The large acorns are good for wildlife too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bur oak

My small bit of input!
I LOVE the CATALPA's and they are VERY fast growers, VERY strong, and VERY beautiful trees (HUGE leaves, Gorgeous blooms).
Having said all that, in the long run a Catalpa may get to be to big for that particular location. Not sure of exact distances, and how much you want to trim.
But if your willing to work, the Catalpa's are beautiful trees.

Burr, white and swamp white oaks all seem to be fine in Chicago's alkaline soil, I amended by whole yard massively before planting a NRO, and it's doing great.