Help with Live Oak Question

[gandalf77a]

I am new to this site and found it as I have questions about a live oak. I am about to buy a new home (well it's new to me, but is about 30 years old) near Austin, Texas that has two large and beautiful oaks in the front. One worry I have though is that they are dead, there are currently no leaves on them but they do have the pollen catkins all over the branches. This may be a dumb question, but are these oaks dead?

Also one of the oaks is covered in ivy, the ivy is only alive about a foot from the ground, but the rest of the tree is covered in dead ivy. Should I pull the ivy out and is it a danger to the tree?

I will try to post some pics as I know it will probably be easier to diagnose. Thanks for the help and I am mainly curious as I don't want to move into a house and then have to worry about two huge dead oaks.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Life is vigorous to thin out the weak from the herd and thereby strengthen a breed.

Certainly in anything the reproductive cycle is one of the most demanding, therefore commanding so much health/ life to warrant itself being carried on by Nature into the future.

Pollen is a sign of Life!



It just now is spring after any dormancy of winter; some breeds of Oaks in your area may be bare, while others just thin etc. Ivy may have been cut- to die off higher, sprayed high to kill or perhaps is more tropical and got nipped by frosting this last season etc.

 

[xtremetrees]

Holy smoke tree spyer you really got it going on!

 

[xtremetrees]

Speak to us of the pully or other friction device while werkin aloft:greenchainsaw:

 

[xtremetrees]

would you rope a log @ 100 feet with a munter hitch or would it cut the rope in half?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I am new to this site and found it as I have questions about a live oak. I am about to buy a new home (well it's new to me, but is about 30 years old) near Austin, Texas that has two large and beautiful oaks in the front. One worry I have though is that they are dead, there are currently no leaves on them but they do have the pollen catkins all over the branches. This may be a dumb question, but are these oaks dead?

Also one of the oaks is covered in ivy, the ivy is only alive about a foot from the ground, but the rest of the tree is covered in dead ivy. Should I pull the ivy out and is it a danger to the tree?

I will try to post some pics as I know it will probably be easier to diagnose. Thanks for the help and I am mainly curious as I don't want to move into a house and then have to worry about two huge dead oaks.

If you can reach a branch tip, scratch it with your fingernail, if there's green just under the bark, it's alive. If it's dry and brittle, that part is dead.
Another concernwith Oaks in Texas is Oak Wilt. You might want to check a currant Oak Wilt Map and make sure you're not in a hot spot.