The damage may be the cause for the slower growth. It may be where it is located.

I have moved several plants which underperformed. If you want to probably early Octoberish is the best time, weather dependant.

What is the planting spot like? Sun, shade? Wet, dry? Next to your home, open lawn?

Ken, I mean that the trunk (at it's largest diameter) is the diameter of a silver dollar, maybe a little bit larger around. I'm not sure what is confusing about being 5 ft tall?

I don't believe it's the location because my other trees in similar locations are thriving. One is another Pin Oak and the other is a Red Maple. Difference is the trunks didn't get chewed on by an animal.

I'll try to grab a photo and post it later today.

uhmmm.. i was thinking about the old Eisenhower silver dollar [just had one in my hand the other day for some reason] ... perhaps you are talking about the sue anthony dollar ...

with trees we talk about caliper size ... the diameter ... the E coin is 2 inches or so.. the A coin one inch .... take a guess ....

one is huge for 5 foot.. the other is in line ...

in my z5 MI .... oaks are moved in early spring .... april for me ... rather than fall ...

carpenter bees love my split rail fence.. aka dry lumber.. not aware of ever seeing such on live trees ....

look forward to pix ... i am just trying to translate your words into a mind pic ... and sometimes i am dull ... lol ... so cut the loop with real pix..

ken

I'll get those pictures, promise! HAHA! I was outside looking at it again and it is more like 7 and a half feet tall after standing under it and the split in the trunk is much longer than 4 inches. So I'll get out the measure and take some pictures. Sheesh...apparently I'm not so great at judging size by memory. :)

I forgot to say that what you see on the wood is a tree wound paint that I put on it last month out of desperation. That's why it's dark brown. It looks as if something is eating it off.

really bad mechanical damage. remove and replace. It's rotting out.

plant another ... and get that one going..

while you watch what happens to this one.. it could live a year or 3.. or 100 .... who knows ... or die over winter .... who knows ...

but i would hedge my bets with the new one ...

ken

I'm in zone 5A, should I plant now or wait until the Spring?

Logan, what does "mechanical" damage mean? It wasn't damaged by anything "mechanical", it was some animal that chewed on it. I do all my own yard work so there was never anything like a weed eater or anything mechanical that hit the tree. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

Thanks all. I just wanted to be sure. A friend was telling me "oh it will come back, it's just repairing itself". I'm like "yeah but it's been 5 or 6 years". I'm just annoyed that I waited so long! I just kept thinking it would make a comeback, but the scarred trunk actually just seems like it's getting worse and worse each year.

As chlorotic as that poor thing is, I'm inclined to think that there are some issues with soil pH... it may be that pin oak is not a proper selection for that particular spot. I'd be inclined to remove it and plant something else - but not another pin oak.

But, if I were dedicated to attempting to 'save' that one... I'd be cutting it off at ground level before it breaks dormancy next spring, and selecting one of the shoots that would almost certainly arise from the root collar to become a 'new' tree.

I need to replant because it's in a very strategic spot out of all the trees we planted. UGH! This is were we need a tree the most! DARN! I'm not going to plant another Pin Oak.

I planted a Red Maple just about 30 ft away and it's doing amazing! I say 30 ft but my mind measurements are not very accurate. The soil should be the same though. Maybe I should plant another Red Maple but I'm hearing that Maples aren't that great of a tree with very invasive roots. I'm not sure if this is true or not, another thing a friend told me. We planted a Northern Red Oak in the front yard that is also doing amazing. I would like an Oak for their dense shade.

Arkansas girl, you don't want another Pin oak there, your PH seems to be too high. You can surely find another tree, be it an oak or any other species, good luck.

Red maple and red oak thrived there but The pin oak didn't. Could the soil there by swampy or alkaline? You could plant a swamp white oak, Shumard Oak, Tupelo or American persimmon. Depending t on whether the problem is soul pH, waterlogged soil, or just the sped of growth of that species,.

American persimmon is a nice tree but not comparable to most oaks. Swamp white oak is a good suggestion, if you want something a little faster growing maybe quercus alba. You may also like liriodendron tulipfera.

My theory for the swamp white oak and persimmon was that if the reason the red maple did better then the pin oak was wet soil, they would do better. Also, pin oak is particularly vulnerable to chlorosis...if the soil was just a little alkaline, pin oak might have struggled while other trees thrived.

ok. It's not a bad suggestion, they are nice trees but I just don't think they compare to oaks. :)

There are tons of other trees to plant. Is the area a wet place? If not you can plant a White oak, a Burr oak, Red oak, Chestnut, Northern Black oak (Q.Velutina) if it's wet Swamp white oak, Swamp Chestnut, plus all those that aren't oaks. I can send you some Q.Alba acorns or Chestnut oak acorns now, just place them on their side in the soil half buried sideways, and they'll send their taproot into the soil, and the foliage will come up next year, you'll have a tree. Just protect the acorns over the winter from squirrels with a wire basket or something.