Young oak tree

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texasshow

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Hello all..

I have moved into a new development and the oak I currently have is fairly young.
The base of the trunk has some splitting. Since I have have moved in, 4 years ago, the base has tripled in size
The tree seemed fine during the summer {see photo) as in color but around December some of the leaves of the tree turned yellowish, I thought oaks stayed green year around
The tree seems not to be a good green color.. I do fertilize the tree during the year
wondering if you had any suggestions.
 

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Greetings,,, what kind of Oak is that!!?? doesn't look like any I've seen up here!!! I have a big Pin Oak green leaves in summer turn orange brown and fall off by winter time... Red, White Oaks do also...
 
It is live oak. I think Q. virginiaia - but outta my range!

They do drop old leaves right as the new ones are emerging. If the new are slow to emerge, might be why the drop is more obvious.

But more significant...is that a solid concrete box the tree is in??? Even if open on the bottom, but closed on the sides. The poor thing is probably root bound. Is removing the concrete an option? If not, consign yourself to a small tree or frequently replace an oak.
 
The yard looks beautiful but all that nice grass around it isn't helping either - taking nutrition the tree needs. Is that sod that was recently laid? If so, what all was done to prep the ground? Maybe some root damage? Also looks like that tree will lift the sidewalk on the one side in a few years. IMO, not a good location for anything bigger than a small ornamental.
 
How long has the tree been in place? You have several things going against you here from what I can see. To begin with live oaks are shallow rooted so that concrete box is not helping. The tree will get root bound. Next is when you water your grass to keep that nice green lawn you also keep the tree from sending down deeper roots looking for water.
I ran a tree spade and thats all I did was move trees that size, all day everyday.
The tree farms that used a drip system to force faster growth also kept the roots shallow. Tree farms that didn't use any irrigation the roots would be much deeper. Soft yellow leaves is a sign of over watering. You also have to account that during construction there may have been a lot of soil contamination from painters dumping and washing there paint equipment on the ground in the yard. Then when the brick layers acid wash the brick it also contaminates the soil. There is no way to tell what kind of soil was back filled after they laid the flat work.
Also having moved thousands of live oaks from tree farms to residential areas, I can tell you each tree will grow at a different rate even though they are grown side by side. Some of it is just the genetics of the tree itself. You can root prune to stop the root bound issue and you can stop watering the grass so much to force the roots to go deeper for water. But you can't change the soil contamination or the type of soil used to back fill the yard. You have 2 choices here. water the grass and have a nice green lawn, or cut back on water and force the tree to put down deeper roots. There could be a host of issues you may be dealing with. If termites and or rot has gotten into the core of the trunk, you have bigger problems. Chances are the trunk was damaged when it was planted, or the tractor man damaged the trunk when he was back filling the yard dirt.
I have seen cases where I just planted the tree in a yard only to have a painter come out and dump a 5 gallon bucket of paint thinner right on the tree. It's hard to say for sure what happened or what type of soil your dealing with. I have seen tree farms where some trees grow fast and some slow or have genetic issues that cause the tree to do poorly while the tree right next to it grows like a weed. Root pruning a tree that size in that location will be costly, because you may have underground utility's to deal with. The scar may heal over fine or it may not.
What if any lawn service do you use and what are they putting on the grass. I would first cut back on watering the lawn to force the roots to go deeper. Your grass will not look as good but the tree will adapt, But you should taper the water off slowly and not all at once.
The tree is use to constant shallow water. If you stop watering suddenly The tree may go into shock or even die. Live oaks are very drought tolerant, provided it's done gradually. You will have to ween it off the constant water slowly.
Grab a hand full of leaves and see how hard it is to strip them from the limb. Do they come off easy or are they hard to pull off. Give the tree a good shake and see if any leaves fall easily. If they do your chances are better then if the are hard to pull off. New spring leaves will be a light green color and darken as the season moves into summer. That is natural. If a live oak stresses from being transplanted it will sometimes go into shock. We would strip the leaves to force the tree to put its energy into building a better root structure. The leaves will sprout back out in a few weeks.
It looks healthy from what I can see. Prune off any inner limb sprouts that are pointing down. They are just wasting energy and it will reduce the wind load and force that wasted energy and will promote faster limb growth to the outer branches. Lightly sprinkle triple 13 around the drip line but don't over do it and water the fertilizer in. A little bit goes a long way. Once watered in start weening the water back over the next summer season. I would need to know more information on the tree to better help you. Was it machine planted or was it a container tree. How long has it been planted. Did the tractor man put to much back fill over the root crown causing the roots to smother and not get enough air. How deep is the mulch around the tree. You can smother the root ball even with to much mulch. I would also pull back some of the mulch if it's more the 2'' deep to let air get down to the roots. It could be suffering from root rot dew to having to much mulch around the root ball.
Like I said it could be a number of issues or a combination of several issues. Pictures and not knowing how, when it was planted is not enough to go on.
I did this for a living for 30 years so the history and seeing it in person is the only way I can pinpoint whats going on. It does look healthy from what I can see. When was the pictures takes and what season are you in at the time they were taken? I would also remove the plants around the trunk for now while the tree recovers. Planting plants around the trunk tells me there may be to much mulch in the box around it. My guess is with the plants in the box the mulch is way to deep for good air to get to the roots causing rood rot. The water gets down to the roots but just sits there and stagnating causing root rot.do not drip soak the tree. It's better if you water it just a little bit every 2 or 3 days only putting minimal water on the tree. your goal is to just keep it alive for the first year and not try to make it grow to fast. It needs time to reestablish itself and recover from being moved. you need to let it recover from the move . Planting them to low or to high can effect and sanding properly. It's and art..
 
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