Is there something wrong with my newly planted live oak?

8 years ago

I live in North Fort Worth and know very little about trees. We just moved into the area and purchased a new home where they installed two live oak trees. One of the trees is sprouting green leaves just fine and its in the backyard. However the one in our front yard has looked exactly the same in the past 8-9 months since we moved in. We moved in December 2014 during the winter so I didn't expect much as far as leaves go or sprouting at the time. But fast forward to now August 2015 and the live oak in our front yard still looks like its in winter season. Our builder stated that it could be too much water or too little. I've been watering this guy at least twice a week with the irrigation system that came with the house Spring time right after the frost ended. The irrigation system has an above surface bobber that waters the canopy area. You can see the grass around isn't too bad.

Should I be concerned?

Here are pics of the front yard tree I'm concerned about:

And here are pictures of the backyard one looking healthy

Any helpful advice is appreciated.

Thank you

Featured Answer

tjayars1

8 years ago

I can tell you with almost no doubt its not watered enough. DFW has had fourty days without rain and at or near 100F. I see every species struggling along the way to work. Dead or near dead cedar, juniper, Burr Oak, Bald Cypress, Chinquipin, Red Oak, Live Oak, Maple, Sycamore. Crape, Hollies, Chinese Pistache. As Ken stated you need an hour of water at slow drip per tree at least a couple times a week apart from the irrigation. The irrigation is only a couple of inches max per watering. Which is soaked up by your grass or evaporated.

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
dig a hole with a hand trowel ... AND FIND OUT IF ITS TOO WET OR TOO DRY ... crikey ... no more guessing ... adjust watering accordingly ... find out if the ball planted is wet or dry ...

no tree .. recent transplant.. is properly watering with lawn irrigation ... long deep INFREQUENT soaking are imperative ... and that is not how you water grass ...

also google mulch volcano ... and fix that ...

one problem never answered .. until it dies and is dug up ... is how mangled the roots were when they dug up this extremely large tree and cut off 99% of its roots .. sometimes.. its just a massacre ...

but your does have leaves.. it was seriously hurt .. but it is producing food thru those leaves.. and if you perfect and insure proper water.. it has a good chance of surviving ...

you can not compare the one prospering.. because.. again.. all the important stuff is underground...

ken
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RugbyHukr
8 years ago
I think the tree you are concerned about is actually the better looking of the two. There are plenty of leaves for photosynthesis and the canopy is open and airy. The back yard tree has clustered, crowded growth and it looks like the lower part of the canopy is defoliated.

I would increase the size of the mulch ring around the trees. The larger the better. It is critical that the mulch does not touch the trees. It needs to be several inches from the trunk. Try to keep the lawn sprinklers from spraying the trees, and deep water with your bubblers. Since you have been watering twice per week scale it back gradually to water once per month.

BTW it looks like there is sapsucker damage to the front tree. The holes left by the birds could be an entry to insects or disease. Try to find a way to deter the sapsuckers.
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I'm not an anti-staker either but that is majorly overkill for the size tree that you have. Both look rediculous for that whip that you have. It looks like you could straighten it out in the planting hole. I would have the bendy side facing the west or northwest and not bother with stakes. Normally how people deal with that is they put a stake right up against the trunk and tie it to the stake. I wouldn't do that either but what you've done will do nothing for the shape of the trunk. The dan stanley method is a good one but for concerns of already straight trees from going bendy. It won't get currently bendy trees to go straight.
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Hi guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Joe, I think you're spot-on (if you'll pardon the pun!); I did some research on early blight and it looks exactly like what I have on my leaves. I'm concerned about cutting off the entire leaves though- that'll be half of them!! Do you suppose I could just cut off the spotted parts first? I guess it's worth a shot, at least. No, I don't top water, but my topsy-turvy strawberry planter (which, I might add, is crap!) is directly above it, which I suppose amounts to the same thing. I'll see if I can find another spot for it, though that may be tricky with the space I'm working with! Damon & Colo. Springs: I think you may be right. My mix does seem to be very water-retentive. I think I'll try watering a little less; the plants have quadrupled in size since I've put them in so I'm sure they must have pretty well-established root systems by now, so as you pointed out, I may simply have to live with it. I had no idea I should use so much bark in my mix- I'd never have thought of that! Well, at least it's better than my first try at container growing tomatoes-- I had a Big Boy in an 8 inch by 8 inch container with nothing but topsoil... so I'm improving! :p
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Watering sounds about right. The ride home-something I forgot to ask you about, could have caused the rapid drying down of the foliage. Don't bother with any "root stimulators" or any other gizmos or potions. The plant already knows how to regenerate a root system. All it needs is time. While some others here have immediately dismissed this as "normal fall leaf drop", it is obviously not so, having happened more or less over night. But the combo of the season and the ride home in the wind could account for it. finally, look at the ends of the twigs for buds. If the buds are present and hard and full of sap, not dried out and shriveled, the tree will most likely be fine next year. +oM
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Wrong spot for newly planted trees ... Replant now or wait 'til fall?
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agree ... but in the mean time.... there is a lot you could learn ... we could ID the trees for you ... determine if they are really 4 foot SEEDLINGS ... or whatever ... [i am not sure i would want a tree that is a very young 4 foot seedling] ... im just trying to figure out the word you used.. and what it means ... so we can discuss it best ... whether deciduous ... etc..etc.. etc ... yadda yadda yadda ... it is best to plant or transplant when a tree is dormant ... and even better if leafless ... so the plant doesnt have to work hard to hold onto those leaves .... that is why summer is usually not a great time to do such.. in many if not most locations in the heat of summer ... see link below for proper watering for this summer.. timing for moving ... etc ... big city name would probably help also .... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub
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wisconsitom
8 years ago
Actually fairly typical for a struggling new transplant. So, some degree of struggling is unavoidable as the tree regenerates a root system-up to 90% of roots being left behind in the nursery field at time of digging. As to why one tree is at one level of recovery and the other at another level, we just don't always know. Moisture management is # 1 as Ken alludes to above, so since you want to "do something", as we all would in your situation, I'd second the recommendation to carefully check moisture status of both the balls that came with the tree(s) and the soil which surrounds. That's really about it.

+oM
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RugbyHukr
8 years ago
Were the trees dug out of a field or were they grown in boxes in a tree nursery? That will, also, be important to know. If they were field dug, then as +oM says you need to know how much root pruning took place. If they were boxed, then you may have roots that could girdle the tree.
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edlincoln
8 years ago
Based on the problems I've encountered on this forum, it seems to me the first thing to do when a newly planted tree surrounded by mulch doesn't thrive is check to see if it is mulched or planted too deeply. Can you see the root flare?
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joeinmo 6b-7a
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It's fine, I'm fairly experienced with Live Oaks - sometimes after transplant they will lose almost all their leaves, then grown small leaves back until they drop off in February and March and get replaced. I wouldn't stress over it, they both will be fine. Yours keeping a large portion of its leaves means its doing fine.

i will say live oaks do NOT like mulch all the way touching there trunk - push back the mulch around 12 inches away from the trunk - also live oaks do NOT like to be planted deep.
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Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
8 years ago
Here in Missouri even in our record drought years we have no watering restrictions. My trees are used to ~40 inches of rain a year. When I have to supplement like in 2012 when we had record heat and lack of rain, I just string out 300 feet of hose with 3 sprinklers hooked up and turn em on for 6 or 8 hours. My theory is that way the whole area is wet and not just a small spot by the tree that will lose moisture to the surrounding soil quickly.
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Is there something wrong with my newly planted live oak?

tjayars1

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

RugbyHukr

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