Chinkapin Oak-Time To Pull The Plug?

12 years ago

I bought this guy two winters ago from Home Depot while it was still dormant. While it's grown probably a couple feet the past two seasons, its leaves have been small both years and always appeared sickly. Now the top has completedly lost its leaves, while some green ones still remain on the lower branches as you can see in the pic.

So here's my questions:

1-Since it's only a two year old tree, my first instinct is to cut bait and try again with something else. Am I giving up too quickly?

2-What caused it to fail like this? Other than having purchased a "bum" tree, the only thing I can think of is that there was a hackberry tree very near to where this is planted. While I did have the stump removed, there are apparently live roots in the area as suckers still appear. I've read that Hackberry's can have allelopathic(sp?) properties. Other than that I'm at a loss as most Chinkapin Oaks do well in this area.

For what it's worth, I planted a Monterrey Oak, also from Homer at the same time in a different part of the yard and it's thrived, so go figure.

TIA

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
total speculation...

poor stock tortured all summer in bigboxstore bought at supreme discount late in the year ... ???

potbound stock.. that was not properly take care of before planting????

improper planting in bad soil ????

improper watering until the tree was fully established ...

who knows ...

but my bigger concern.. is those power lines ... i dont know why you are planting a tree with huge potential.. that close to power lines ...

should you wish to replant.. i would suggest a tree with a much smaller potential ....

if i had a choice.. i would lean toward blaming anyone rather than you.. lol ...

and yes .... you cont compare one potted tree to another ... it probably had a better root system in the pot ...

good luck

ken

ps: do you have clay soil.. and how did you plant it????
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Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
12 years ago
Chinkapin Oak are supposed to be at their best in bottomland soils but often find themselves on dry alkaline clay soils because it's the only place they can consistently beat the competition.
Is it soaking wet all the time or might it have suffered from an overly dry rootball during the establishment period.
You might try a trunk chop before giving up. Oaks can re-sprout vigorously after such treatment.
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Pam, I'm not sure what you meant by that but i think you're missing the point. It's about developing better root system regardless of where you plant, what the climate is and what tree species are. Better root system means better/faster establishment. It is a pain in the butt dealing with one long tap root that get circled around in the container. You have to mess with it to get it straightened out and not to mention more digging to get it deep enough. You don't have to worry about it with rootmaker's way. You just simply dig a hole and drop the tree in and move on. Here is the info from rootmaker website about seedlings plant out.. Question: Do you have any information on the use/success on the out planting of container seedlings grown in RootMaker II containers directly in the field for conservation/reforestation type projects? Answer: Tree seedlings in RootMakerÂ® II propagation containers are routinely taken to the field when they are 12 to 16 inches tall and 3 to 4 months old. This has been done by hundreds of nurseries across the country. Most do fall planting Â September or October and some have drip irrigation and others do not. (Drip irrigation assures nearly 100% survival. But even without drip irrigation, the success rate is quite high, except for the occasional severe drought immediately following planting). The primary reason for planting tree seedlings at a larger size is that in the small growth stage, telling seedlings that will make winner trees from culls is tough and the cull rate may be as high as 25 to 30% or more for the oaks. In one gallons, the cull rate drops to 7 to 10% and with 3 gallons to 2 to 3%.
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I have a lot of roses planted in pots year round and they do fine through the coldest of San Antonio temperature so these should do fine in their five gal pots. Many roses in our climate don't even loose their leaves in the winter. This is especially true with the old China and tea roses. But whatever kind of roses you have if you decide to dig them up they will definitely do much better outside with some sun and fresh air, and watered during the winter. Most of my roses are managing to live through this heat; especially the ones that get a little shade in the afternoons. Only if it looks like some aren't going to make it with extra water and shading would I dig them up. I have one or two more I may have to 'rescue'. Be sure and cover them with clear plastic if you dig them up now and keep as much soil around the roots as you can. It will help them through the shock of loosing a lot of their feeder roots in spite of careful digging. Just watch them while in full shade and remove the plastic in small increments after they've had time to grow new roots. It will take few weeks. Plumerias are amazing plants. Believe it or not you can uproot them and store the bare stalk in a closet for the winter, plant them in the spring, and they 'spring' to life. There was a post about it on here a few months ago and I did this last winter. Keep us posted on how the stressed plants are faring!
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Yep- pretty close- I'm at 183 and Anderson Mill (a mile or so south of Lakeline Mall). I agree with the possibility of drought response. The one thing I want to see is if your root flair is exposed or not, even for a young tree. Most trees, purchased from the big box stores, have the tree's root ball sitting in a container of some sort and the dirt in those containers are usually filled up to the top edge, which, is significantly higher than the root flair of the tree. Sometimes people will take those home and plant them too deep or too shallow because they don't see the tree's root flair. This can either smother the tree's roots (if planted too deep) or they will not be able to take hold correctly (if planted too shallow). Either way the tree can suffer. One should always remove the excess soil down to the root flair before planting. Then plant with root flair at ground level. So really, what I am asking you for (for the picture), really is to check and see if you can see the little root flair just at the soil line. If not, you might have planted too deep and the tree is suffocating. The other thing is how much you are watering and does your soil drain well. Chinquapin's require well drained soil. Anyways, post back what you find...and Happy Friday!!
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arktrees
12 years ago
Can't say anything about your tree as you give us no info of planting, watering etc. BUT, in my area at least HD stock is deplorable. Absolutely horrendous. Pot bound, poorly cared for if cared for at all. I would probable remove it and start over with another tree. BUT, you may need to educate yourself on proper depth of planting, what to look for in a tree, circling roots and various other factors.

Arktrees
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bjb817
Original Author
12 years ago
I appreciate the responses so far, folks!

First and foremost, I planted it how at least I thought I was supposed to. I dug the hole the depth of the pot and twice the width. I amended the backfill with compost. The soil I believe is what's called "chocolate loam", which is a low grade clay from what I understand. I also loosened the roots. I don't recall them being overly pot-bound or anything like that.

I watered it every couple of days the first few weeks and then it got watered at least once a week with the lawn sprinklers after that.

I should point out also, that here in central TX, we had our worst drought in 60 years last year. That, coupled with record heat all summer. The thing puilled through, but looked pretty sad all year. I chalked it up to the horrid weather.

This past winter was actually fairly wet, however. The tree still leafed out late and the leaves were small. After putting out a decent flush of growth this spring, it gradually looked more and more miserable.

If this was a 20' or larger tree and had been healthy up to this point, I may be more inclined to see what I can do to save it, perhaps even have an arborist come to take a look. At this point, I'm trying to determine if there's something I just haven't thought of that could save it without a whole lot of trouble or, worst case, if I start over, avoid the problem.

Lastly, it's worth pointing out that I've had a miserable time getting anything to thrive in my back yard. I think our male dog may have something to do with that, but I'd think something as large as a #15 tree shouldn't be that affected by a small dog peeing on it now and then, if that's the case.
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bjb817
Original Author
12 years ago
Oh, and about the power lines, they're not quite as close as they appear in the pic. That's one of the reasons we went with a Chinkapin Oak as they're supposed to be more upright than say a Burr or Live Oak.

As for the soil, very alkaline in our area (Austin, TX).
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
first.. call you COUNTY extension office and find out how to have a professional soil test done.. and generally ask them why nothing grows in your yard ... they might know offhand in your county ...

second ... study and follow the linked planting guide ... no amendments in the hole for trees ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
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lou_spicewood_tx
12 years ago
Where in Austin, Tx? Just moved to the west of Austin. It sounds like you live on the east or at least away from rocky soil? Looks like I'll be breaking my back planting trees in rocky soil at the new house... again.

By the way, amending planting hole with compost is a big no-no. Just have to make sure root flares are slightly above ground level. Compost goes on top of planting hole followed by mulch. I'd say to get a new tree growing in Roottrapper fabric bag that gives you very nice root system. The only nursery I know of that sells trees in them is at Natural Gardner Nursery out in the west part of Austin.
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lou_spicewood_tx
12 years ago
I did a google for nursery that sells trees in Rootmaker containers and found this place in Leander - http://hillcountrynatives.net/ . You'd have to make appointment to go there and check out plants. It is also a wholesale tree farm but open to public by appointment.
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Chinkapin Oak-Time To Pull The Plug?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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Chinkapin Oak-Time To Pull The Plug?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

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