very old damage ...

if you clean it up more.. is there ANY indication that it has begun the healing process???

we tend to suggest to peeps.. that they go with smaller transplants.. as they take the stress easier.. recover faster... and get established faster ..

if you replace it.. go with half that size .... IMHO ...

the canopy is very sparse ... though it might recover .... i dont know if i could look at it on my front lawn for the 5 or 10 years it will take ... if it were out in the back 40 ... whatever ...

ken

First, thank you for the excellent pix. We should send the typical request over here with a terse 'ask like this'. Anyhoo,

Some of the holes appear to be birds foraging for whatever larvae were causing the galleries to be visible in the 4th pic. My suggestion is to start planning for a replacement. Your gut isn't lying to you. When you replace, per Ken the biggest tree is usually not the best choice. 2.5" caliper is just fine. Ensure good supplemental irrigation, esp. first year. And I'm not sure my eyes have been working properly here lately, but I can't tell if that tree is planted properly at grade - very common for B&B to be too deep & if so, that is ~66% of problem right there, harsh weather likely tipped its fate.

Dan

Def dd#1 - planted too deep which has affected her ability to heal that wound that occurred in the past.

Sorry about your tree :-( If it is planted too deep it might never recover to your satisfaction and will remain susceptible to attack from other pests.

I echo the replacement suggestions already stated. Hope you stick around there are a lot of very helpful people here.

You came to "the ultimate" source for tree knowledge ;) Do you listen to WWLS?

John

pic 3 .. i can see the hole that was dug .... in the difference in the grass ...

if properly watered.. the grass on the planting.. should be more vigorous than the lawn ...

and watering a large root mass.. deeply and thoroughly.. for 3 to 5 years.. is very hard to do ... you can learn all about that.. should you start over..

and that is probably the way to go...

ken

Thanks for the responses.

Ken - Do you think I should peel off the bark that easily comes off (is this what you mean by cleaning it up)? What should I look for to see if there is any healing?

Thanks for the notes about going for a smaller tree. I had heard that advice before, but of course, I wanted a bigger tree "now". And now I probably have an expensive mistake, it would seem. If I do replace, I'll definitely go for something smaller.

I had been good about keeping the bermuda off of it, until the last month or so. With the intense heat we've had, I haven't been as good at keeping the bermuda out of flowerbeds and the trees as usually am. I watered it once a week for most of that first summer after we planted it, and into the fall. I set the hose at a trickle and let it soak for an hour or so. Because of the heat and lack of rain this summer, I've been doing that slow soak a couple times a month.

Regarding the planting, I think it was done decently well. The top of the rootball is actually a little above the rest of the lawn, around 3-4". It's hard to see that from these pics. In the first few pics, you can see some bare soil where I had quickly used the weedeater at the base of the planting, where it raises up from the lawn.

Thanks again for the advice!

Hey, it was waaaaaaaaay too hot to mess with keeping grass out of flowerbeds and out of mulch rings this summer. I, too have a quite a few messes to attend to in the coming weekends. I spot round upped some when temps permitted but that was pretty rare in late June-August.

It is not just that the tree is above grade, it is that it appears to have a LOT of soil directly on top of the rootball resting against the trunk. Soil above the rootball should begin directly above the rootball, not 2-8" above :) As already mentioned, it is very common for B&B stock to have extra soil piles on top that needs to be removed at planting for several purposes. You basically need to remove soil until you find the root flare to know for sure. As bad as the tree looks, I would do it now. Even if you don't keep it, you can at least see for yourself what condition it is in and that may help you in your future plantings.

John

My shumard did something similar. I cut it down at ground level and figured that would be the end of it and planted something else in the same area. When I was watering the yard in June I noticed a new sprout coming from the shumard's stump. It is now 13 inches tall.

I'm not saying your's will sprout if you cut it down but if you are going to get another tree anyway, it may be worth trying. You can always try to replant it when the conditions are right.

My red oak did the exact thing and even the extension service had no idea what it was. I figured it out myself finally after a lot of research. If your tree is facing southwest, it is very likely that it is sunscald. I cleaned all the bark off and I've painted the trunks white about 5 feet up with an acrylic paint. Yours is worse than mine and mine are definitely dead after last summer. I'm holding on for another month or so just in case, but you'll probably have to get rid of it. Research pics of sunscald and see if you think that's what it is also. Birds etc. go after it because it is stressed mainly not that they killed it themselves in my opinion.