Cathedral Oak Tree Dying

[OakTreeDying]

I have two Cathedral Oaks in my yard that are 8 years old. One tree is doing fantastic. The other tree is rapidly losing all of its leaves. The leaves have small bulges on them. There are pin head to quater size round bulges all over the limbs of the tree which are becoming brittle and breaking off. The other tree that is doing well does not have any of these strange bulges. Here are some pics, please help me save my tree. Over the last two weeks it has went from looking great to losing 80% of the foilage and bulges are covering 70% of the limbs. The majority of the leaves do not have time to form bulges before falling off. This has happened incredibly fast. Please help save my oak tree, I just don't know what to do for it.

Healthy tree:

Sick tree :

Dying branches with bulges:

Close up of dead twig. These bulges cover 70% of the limbs on the dying Cathedral Oak.

 

[BayouTree]

gouty oak gall

The bulges on your twigs are actually caused by a type of wasp that lays it's eggs in the twig. The twigs then form these growths and protect the wasp larva as they develop. Usually treatment is not necessary and there really isn't an effective chemical way of control that I know of. You can prune out infected branches, but that might be too much considering the infestation. If the galls have tiny pin holes in them that means the wasp has emerged already, so pruning really has no effect other than aesthetics. Chances are that there are some other issues with the tree that may be causing it to not leaf out. You may check the drainage around the area and look for any damage at the base of the tree. Live oaks don't like too much water. When was the tree planted. It is also possible that the tree was planted too deep causing stress.

Good luck.

 

[OakTreeDying]

Oak Tree Dying

We planted the tree in September 2006 as an 8 year old tree. The tree was planted by professionals and not too deep. Thank you for replying; I'll try pruning any bulges that do not have tiny holes in them.

/jc/

 

[treeseer]

Pruning the galls will not help the tree. Please post a picture of the trunk flare. See New Tree Planting in the link below.

 

[Ekka]

My spider senses are tingling off the scale here.

One doing good and one doing bad.

Good one I take it has bugger all galls bad one is swamped right?

Hmmmm, wasps lay eggs, little grub thingys come and make galls.

Healthy tree floods out with sap little layed eggs and grubs, drowns them.

These are secondary pests.

As all above stems from below one can assume problems with soil/planting/roots etc.

As conditions for both trees are same one can most likely eliminate soil/water etc unless there's something different for the two locations.

Is one drowning the other drying out?

Is one copping the sewerage overflow the other not?

Is one a victim of herbicide overspray?

Sounds too late, if the branches are snappy and gall infested chances are the eco system of nature is closing in on the burial.

So, lift the mulch and check the root system, hose it away. Maybe it was planted in a well and water logged.

You have the curiosity now gain the motivation for sciences sake and find the cause ... look at the root system and "topography" to narrow down the cause.

There ya go, not bad for a guy whose never worked on an oak. :biggrinbounce2:

 

[treeseer]

little grub thingys come and make galls.

Eric, I think the tree starts to form the gall, even before the larvae hatch. I don't think we know enough yet to call them secondary in this case, tho they are typically a nonissue.

.check the root system

That's where the problems probably lie.

 

[Ekka]

My hunch is condensed root ball, hydrophobic, augered hole.

But that's biased to what I witness.

 

[BayouTree]

I'm sure that wasn't cheap to have those trees installed. Most nurseries that install trees like that will warranty them for one year. Hope that it works out for you.

 

[OakTreeDying]

OakTreeDying

My spider senses are tingling off the scale here.

One doing good and one doing bad.

Good one I take it has bugger all galls bad one is swamped right?

Hmmmm, wasps lay eggs, little grub thingys come and make galls.

Healthy tree floods out with sap little layed eggs and grubs, drowns them.

These are secondary pests.

As all above stems from below one can assume problems with soil/planting/roots etc.

As conditions for both trees are same one can most likely eliminate soil/water etc unless there's something different for the two locations.

Is one drowning the other drying out?

Is one copping the sewerage overflow the other not?

Is one a victim of herbicide overspray?

Sounds too late, if the branches are snappy and gall infested chances are the eco system of nature is closing in on the burial.

So, lift the mulch and check the root system, hose it away. Maybe it was planted in a well and water logged.

You have the curiosity now gain the motivation for sciences sake and find the cause ... look at the root system and "topography" to narrow down the cause.

There ya go, not bad for a guy whose never worked on an oak. :biggrinbounce2:

Thanks for the tips...I now believe that my Scotts weed/feed may have stressed the tree; however, I put the same amount around the other tree, but the bag warns the user not to put under trees and shrubs. How much watering should I do in this case?

/jc/

 

[OakTreeDying]

OakTreeDying

It looks to me like the tree was already heavily infested with gouty oak gall when it was planted and was defective nursery stock. Some of those twigs are over one year old. I have seen serious infestations of gouty oak gall cause the decline of trees and 70% is a pretty heavy infestation.

Like others have mentioned herbicides, bad planting and over watering are also possibilities. The lawn looks like herbicide is being used.

The one tree is gone.

Call the company who planted the trees to come take a look.

I did call the tree farm, and they offered similar suggestions as everyone else. The herbicide is probably what has sickened my tree. There still may be a chance of saving it. I have watered the tree quite a bit, and it seems to be looking a little better/healthier. I am not about to give up yet.

/jc/

 

[OakTreeDying]

OakTreeDying

I'm sure that wasn't cheap to have those trees installed. Most nurseries that install trees like that will warranty them for one year. Hope that it works out for you.

The trees are not warranteed after I took possession since I had a local arborist plant them. I now believe a herbicide is what has put the one oak in decline. I still have a chance to save it according to some arborists.

/jc/

 

[OakTreeDying]

OakTreeDying

The bulges on your twigs are actually caused by a type of wasp that lays it's eggs in the twig. The twigs then form these growths and protect the wasp larva as they develop. Usually treatment is not necessary and there really isn't an effective chemical way of control that I know of. You can prune out infected branches, but that might be too much considering the infestation. If the galls have tiny pin holes in them that means the wasp has emerged already, so pruning really has no effect other than aesthetics. Chances are that there are some other issues with the tree that may be causing it to not leaf out. You may check the drainage around the area and look for any damage at the base of the tree. Live oaks don't like too much water. When was the tree planted. It is also possible that the tree was planted too deep causing stress.

Good luck.

Thank you. We now believe a herbicide is responsible for putting the tree in decline. We are watering heavy as we are in a drought and the tree appears to be looking better -- no more leafs are dropping.

/jc/