What happened to my young Oak tree?
I have a recently transplanted Red Oak Tree that is stressed and, I believe dying (I am located in Burlington, Ontario Canada - about 40 min drive from Buffalo, for reference). I had it professionally planted last June by a popular nursery in the area. My guess is it was about 70mm diameter last year and probably just over ten years old when I purchased it.
This year I noticed that the entire top 2/3 of the foiliage area is not producing any leaves. There are buds way up to the top, but none of them are growing into leaves. Here's an overview picture of the tree (my little one photo-bombed it!):
I took a closer look at the trunk and discovered to my horror that there appear to be long splits running all up and down the bottom 2/3 of the tree. I snapped a few pics:
I don't believe this is normal. Does anyone know what might have caused that kind of damage? The nursery warrantied my tree for three years from planting, but they are saying that because there are 'signs of life', they won't replace it. They asked me to cut a 1/4" deep into the bark and look to see whether there is anything green underneath or whether it was just typical wood.. If there wasn't then the tree had likely died beyond a certain point When I did that, I did see some green, but it was only slightly underneath the bark. Here's a pic:
Do you think the top of the tree is permanently dead? If it is, then I may be able to have it covered under warranty, but if it's not, then they are refusing to replace it (even though I will have lost 2/3 of the foiliaged area - maybe more).
I snapped a video as well which I uploaded to Youtube and which you can see here: https://youtube.com/shorts/glVOfDVgpdA?feature=share
Any thoughts are welcomed. Thanks!
p.s. - this is my first post here!
Comments (20)
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
last monthWelcome aboard!
Typing on the cell so this will come out random.
-The green is going to be right under the bark, not in the center.
-That trunk looks rough. Is that environmental damage like sun scald? On an oak?
-I mean there ARE signs of life and I have a Nyssa sylvatica which died down to the ground and is now a tree, but man, do they really want you to hang their name on that tree on your Facebook page?
-If you can keep any pets and kids from digging them up I find smaller transplants to be better. You get all the roots. The Scarlet oak below witb the kid made red solo cup wind chime / deer deterrant was brought home in the MarkVIII you see in the background about 2016. Its even survived a deet attack. Darn, the add on part of the shed needs to find the bonfire pit.
Dan Chapman thanked Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louislaceyvail 6A, WV
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Proper root flare for young oak tree
Comments (4)roots in the soil ... flare at ground level.. trunk above .... a place for each .... check out the link .... how long has your tree been there... maybe i can find .. or remember to find the other post .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: third pic down...See MoreYoung Oak Tree
Comments (3)no reason it cant be done.. when it loses its leaves.. and is in dormancy ... bare root though i would have preferred it have been done when it was around 3 feet ... just for less work.. and reduction of stress on the plant itself ... pic below.. on what it should look like by the time you are done digging .. but do note.. the receiving hole should be dug first .... and it should spend no more time out of the ground.. than it takes to snap a pic ... and forget about the tap root.. its just another root.. that needs to be cut.. to move the plant .... ken this happens to be a cherry.. but i have done oak the same way...See MoreProblem w/ young oak tree - pictures
Comments (28)Lou thanks for contributing the compost information. I know that Cornmeal is very effective when applied to the 'Palmetto' St Augustine grass. My son inlaw tried the fertilizer chemicals the first year, and was not very happy with the result, The next fall the Cornmeal applied like you suggested and horse manure compost applied later showed a dramatic improvement over the chemical fertilizer/weed killer he used first. The virgin clay soil that was on the lot where my daughter's house was build was nearly white hardpan. And then I saw that their builder only layed down sand as a topsoil. That really stressed me, because I know the light color I saw in her clay soil must indicate that it must be nearly void of humus and also void of many important nutrients that trees and shrubs need. Because of that we made the landscaping beds with well processed horse manure compost, and when he applied that same compost and at the right time put down the cornmeal, my son-in-law ended up with one of the nicest looking yards and landscaping on the block. Too bad they moved back to OK the next year, and no longer can enjoy that. I say that, because now most of the yards in our area are full of that horrible weed called bermuda grass. Too bad the 'Palmetto' ST Augustine grass is not hardy enough for our borderline USDA Zone 6b/7a I have a friend who's Bermuda grass is worse than mine at invading, and even after we covered some of her lawn, for a new landscaping bed, with black plastic for 6 weeks in the hottest part of the summer, the Bermuda's roots still are not killed. We looked under the plastic this week and saw lots of thick white roots with hints of green barely showing. What a pain. I just simply hate Bermuda grass. The only good thing; is that even if it goes dormant in a drought most Bermuda will not die out, and in the next warm rainy season it flourishes again. For Lawns that is great. For Landscape beds that is nothing more than a huge weedy burden. Now, for my friend's new landscape bed, I know of no other choice than to spray the area with a grass root killer that will not harm the roses and thornless dwarf hawthorn tree and some shrubs we want to plant next week in that new bed. As far as my above advice to Mike, I did not want to advise him to make the soil in his oak tree's bed extra fertile until he gets his bermuda roots under control. If he does make the tree's bed nice and fertile before then, with the organic stuff you mentioned, The Bermuda will simply send down even deeper roots and take a stronger hold in the bed, resulting in the roots stealing most of those composted organic nutrients away from the tree's rootball. Since the tree is already stressed, many pests which drop and spend the winter in the soil do not like the oils in cedar. That is why I suggested Mike use it. Not so much to break down and feed the tree, but to instead help retain soil moisture, and to retard the pests which otherwise might want to emerge from the soil and attack this tree that is currently struggling to establish. Mike, once your bermuda is under better control, then by all means do all you can to follow Lou's advice on the organic spreads. And when your tree is more healthy, you can begin to use the faster breaking down mulches Lou mentioned, because by then the health of the tree should help discourage more of such opportunist pests from rushing in....See Moredid Herbicide spray Kill my young Live Oaks?
Comments (31)Update on our tree situation. We finally received the Diagnostic Report back from Texas A & M Agriculture from the 3rd sample the lawn company finally sent in. On the report it stated the sample received was " Desiccated (dry) sample, Poor Sample" Just as we assumed it would be by the time they had got around to sending it. It also stated in the report "that there was no pathogen found, observed twig damage resulting from egg-laying insects activity, likely wasp. Although the damage looks unsightly it actually results in little significant damage and does not generally warrant any specific control efforts." Meaning this would not result in the trees dying at the same time in a matter of 7-10 days. I spoke with the representative from Texas A&M and asked if a test for herbicide had been done. She said "no, there had not been one requested and had there been one requested they would have had to send the specimen somewhere else. But the poor sample they had received had shown no signs of fungus or disease that would have resulted in all the trees dying at the same time so quickly." When the Diagnostic Report did not verify that the trees died from a fungus or a disease they then had to admit that the herbicide spray resulted in the trees dying. They have agreed to replace our trees....See More
cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
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last monthLaceyvail - I went out and snapped a couple pics of the root flare (doesn't look like there is much frankly):
Does this help at all?
Thanks again!Dan Chapman
last monthCearbhaill, here's a high quality video of the tree I took while it was still in the nursery in May, 2021 (1 year ago exactly):
https://youtube.com/shorts/G2wAqALow94?feature=share
As you can see, the trunk looks great - no signs of sun scald or anything. Also, you'll note it was delivered (and I believe grown?) in a basket, so wouldn't that mean the root structure would have been intact? Or is the common practice to grow in ground and then harvest into a root ball a year or two before being sold commercially?
Here's a pic of the tree I snapped back in May '21 as well if that's easier than a video for you:
If you can zoom in close enough, you'll see there doesn't appear to be any sun scald like damage here.Dan Chapman
last monthAnd a photo of it being delivered in June of 2021 - as you can see, full foliage:
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last monthAlright so I dug up as much as I felt comfortable around the root flare. Went down about 3-4 inches:
Only thing that seemed strange was there were a lot of new branch sprouts coming out, which I think is not something usual. I didn't want to go down any deeper as I was encountering light latticework root structures visible in the last couple photos.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
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laceyvail 6A, WV