Stressed Oak Tree

[maaimahiu]

I have an old red oak (30 inches diameter, 45 foot tall) that, up until February, was getting about 50-60 gallons of wash water a week from a gray water drain. In trying to bring the house up to code I am now putting the gray water into the septic and not into the tree. The result is that the tree is stressed, it has only about 30% of it’s normal foliage. My question is, is it done for, or can I sent the gray water back to it and bring it back? I have other alternatives (like watering, we have lots of water). Will I be able to get more foliage on it this year by watering and fertilizing, or should I give up. It is a great tree and it adds a lot to the property.

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[Ekka]

Can you post some pics?

I'm not from your parts but the tree is definately stressed and losing 2/3's of it's foliage is bad ...

You have nothing to lose by taking that grey water back to it. It probably has some nutritional value too that other water wont so do it.

Then watch for new growth and see if there's a lot of die back on branch ends. Keep us posted, monthly perhaps

It could come back good or bad ... bad would be a flush of epicormic growth whilst dieback progressed ... if nothing happens and it continues to lose leaves and deteriorate etc .... think about where you can stack that firewood.

If it comes good you need to slowly ween it off the grey water.

 

[maaimahiu]

Sorry for the long delay, but thank you for the reply. I have managed to get about half of the gray water back to the tree (not wanting to rip up too much flooring) and I have asked a friend who heads a grounds crew at the local college to come have a look. I have discovered a lot of internal rot in the trunk, so there may be multiple things at work here. Wish I had pics, the delay was caused by my refusal to admit my digital camera was dead.

 

[treeseer]

. I have discovered a lot of internal rot in the trunk,

THis should be measured and tree viability assessed by a pro. Many tree services will point to internal decay and tell you the tree needs to come down right away. This is usually not true. If you revive a camera and show us what you got, there may be a way to revive your tree. But if the leaves are as bad as you say, no cause for great hopes.

 

[maaimahiu]

Got a camera

here are some pictures, the quality is lacking, but as you can see I have complete die off on some branches, while others seem to be holding their own.

What should I look for in a professional arborist? Is there any certification, or is it pretty loose. I also happen to have on hand a garbage bag full or squirrel guano (they lived for years in the attic) can I fertilize with this or should I just wait for a professional opinion?

 

[NYCHA FORESTER]

I don't want to break your heart but........... It appears to be beyond hope. Sorry

 

[treeseer]

yes it's bad. send pics of the lower trunk plesase. Contact blue ridge community college, their arboriculture instructor there should be able to refer you to someone. Better yet take his course; it's good. Tell Joe that Guy says Hi. If you still need help in October I'll be up there taking the certified tree worker exam and could stop by.

I'm all for recycling natural material, but save the skwerl dung til you get a soil test and a tree plan made by a pro. YOur tree did not decline (maybe it may be reduced and salvaged as a bush of sorts) due to lack of gray water.

 

[Tree Wizard]

That red oak is not declining due to lack of grey water for a couple of weeks. One of the things I would look for would be root or collar rot due to years and years of the grey water being dumped on it weekly. If this tree went from a fully foliated tree to this in a couple of weeks - you've either got oak wilt or a massive failure of the trees vascular system and that more likely takes place in the roots than in the trunk or limbs.

 

[Ekka]

Or he didn't notice much of what was going on until he moved the grey water and became aware ... that cavitity didn't show up in a few weeks either.

Coincidence??? Perhaps the tree was heavily reliant on the grey water due to it's poor state?

 

[maaimahiu]

More details,

Actually the gray water was taken away in March, so it is not like the tree just started dying. My observation is that the leaves just never came out this year, which I attributed to my moving the gray water away during my remuddling of the house. I am willing to part with that theory though, my wife says that the tree wasn't looking too great last year (though certainly not nearly this bad). I'll still keep the gray water on it and call Blue Ridge. Thanks very much for the advice.