What's going on with this White Oak?

[e40320]

When the tree leafed out in the spring all that came out where there really small leaves and curly. Since them some new leaves have formed and some of them get big and others are small and curled up. The small curly leaves don't fall off, and they haven't gotten brown. Last year the tree didn't show any signs of this. I'm not sure if it's anthracnose, frost damage, or some other kind of stress.

I did prune the tree a little in April, which i now understand that I shouldn't have done. This doesn't look like Oak wilt to me and white oaks are rarely infected with that disease.

The tree has grown about 2 feet so far this summer, which makes me think it's not doing too bad. About 10 years ago the tree was topped because the former owners didn't water it when it was transplanted. Since then a new leader has started that is about 8 feet tall. In April I trimmed some of the old branches that had turned up to make more room for the leader.

There is a drought where I live and I have been watering the tree on a regular basis, once ever week or two.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

 

[e40320]

yes, i used scotts sping fertilizer and sprayed the yard with Weed be gone 2 or may 3 times in the spring. Because of the mild winter (and a patchy lawn) i had a tone of weeds in the spring. I also used weed be gone spray for weed spots.

So, if all that is bad for the oak, what should/can i use for lawn weeds?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Raintree]

Looks like herbicide damage.

Good call, that's what it is!

 

[Urban Forester]

Considering the lawn in the background of picture 3 is completely dormant, I would lean toward drought stress. Watering this tree is the first step I would take, and see what the response is. Weed-b-gone is a standard 3 way containing 2,4-D, Dicamba and MCPP or MCPA (can't remember which). Dicamba is most often the culprit when it comes to oaks, and as a growth regulator it causes the veins of the leaves to contract and pull back in on themselves, causing a more distorted leaf. I see standard downward cupping, with very little cell distortion or discoloration. I would water this tree within the dripline twice a week in absence of natural rainfall (space out the waterings, Oaks don't like wet feet) until the soil is moist to about 4" and see what happens. If it is herbicide this will also help flush the soil. Although considering the applications were made in the spring, I doubt there is any significant PPM left in the soil due to UV and microbial breakdown.

 

[Raintree]

UF, if you look at the first pic you'll see normal unaffected leaves on the right. Would not drought stress be seen through out?