Hello everyone, I've got two trees in my front yard, approximately 4 years old. One of them just doesn't look right; I didn't think it was coming back from winter. It seems to only be sproutng leaves on one side, and only close to the trunk. I've posted a pic of the leaves for identification, and a pic of the entire tree. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Need help identifying tree and what ails it...
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Looks like some kind of oak. Can you post a photo of the lower trunk? Looks like some damage there.
I'll upload a few more photos this evening, thanks for the help!
It's in the red oak side of the family since it has pointed leaves. The funny leaf pattern is caused by stress. The leaves are fighting to flush out as much as possible on the good side, to keep the tree alive, but the other side may have bark damage or roots have choked it off and now it can't support growth so is dying/dead. With TLC it may recover, you could wait and see, but consider just replacing it.
From the photo, my guesses are 1) it was hit by the lawnmower deck or string trimmer too many times, and had lost the life supporting bark layer of cambium on the dead side. In this case protect it from being hit again and it may recover eventually or 2) that it was planted there as a potted tree which had overgrown its pot, and the roots started encircling the trunk. Now that it's grown, the circling roots are fatter and are choking it out. That's called girdling. You could try cutting the encircling root out, but at this point the tree will be weak and struggle, and the base of trunk may be weakened.
From the photo, my guesses are 1) it was hit by the lawnmower deck or string trimmer too many times, and had lost the life supporting bark layer of cambium on the dead side. In this case protect it from being hit again and it may recover eventually or 2) that it was planted there as a potted tree which had overgrown its pot, and the roots started encircling the trunk. Now that it's grown, the circling roots are fatter and are choking it out. That's called girdling. You could try cutting the encircling root out, but at this point the tree will be weak and struggle, and the base of trunk may be weakened.
Thanks for that info! I've posted a few more pics that may help confirm your suspicions...
the first image shows a long narrow strip of missing bark, which is actually better than missing a short wide strip becauar the tree needs most of its circumference intact. so thats a plus. the other images dont concern me much, the uneven bark could be just transitioning from young smooth bark to mature craggly bark... but whats the black plastic item near the base? whatever it is its too close. watering nozzle? is it overwatered? from what i can tell the roots look lile they emerge straight out like legs of a starfish.. thats good - it may not be girdling. do you know whats the cause of the bark damage? did it get hit? if so protect it and it might recover. however if the tree was not hit, then the bark died for a different underlying cause which needs to be determined.
That is an irrigation head. I haven't turned on the irrigation system yet this year (we've had a ton of rain this spring). The tree has never been hit (I bought the house new in 2016). At least I have something to look at with the information you've provided, so I'll research further and see if I can save this tree. Thank you very much for helping me out with this, this site is a great resource. Have a safe weekend...William
Happy to have helped. I must confess I am not a tree care expert, but have planted and cared for many trees in my day. So Im about out of ideas but you might try contacting your local university extension service, they might have a free hotline if you dont get an expert around here to chime in. Good luck!
Based on the bark, it may be a Nuttall Oak, close relative of the Pin Oak. How close is it to the house? These can get 60' to 100' and close to 3' diameter and I've seen Pin Oak get this big in around 30 years. The tree is well on it's way to compartmentalizing the wound. If you want to try saving it I do recommend a layer of organic mulch around the base out at least out to the drip line (this will increase as the tree grows) but don't heap it up against the trunk.
Thank you for the tip! I'll add mulch as recommended to both trees. It's probably 20-25 feet from the slab. Sounds like this could be a problem within a decade or two.
