Oak not happy

[Bermy]

I was called to look at this 180+/- yr english oak...

House built 2 yrs ago
No construction equipment inside the drip line (they say)
Change of grade in side and front of tree (3' max at furthest point away, probably 18" or so at a few points inside the drip line)
Flare intact and clear ( apparently an arborist said the change of grade would be ok, and not to bury the trunk flare...)
They irrigated and fertilized after house was finished
New lawn installed (care of lawn appears to be over care of tree!)

Tree looked great first year
Yellow leaves on house side last year
Dieback evident
Winter waterlogging (wet site anyway, lots of rain past winter)
Irrigation stopped
Plans to install more drainage

I recommended no further irrigation, no fertilizer
Tree appears to be flushing out ok this year, will monitor
Some areas of small yellowish leaves
Area on side of house obviously thinner overall than the rest
Will deadwood if dangerous, otherwise, would you remove small deadwood or leave it?
possible site for fungal intrusion to rest of tree?

What else could be done?
I reckon some of the small feeder roots have been smothered/drowned, I read of some saying to cut back some canopy on that side to compensate...but if this year's growth looks ok, I would tend to leave it...what say you?
I told them that in all probability with the change of drainage patterns and the addition of soil to part of the root zone, and the poor winter drainage, all combined to place the tree under stress.

I told them to keep an eye out for fungal bodies in the lawn...any joy in a fungicide drench, preventative?

 

[Bermy]

Few more pics...

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's a magnificent tree, for sure. I wish I could help, but I'm just a dumb climber...

 

[Husabud]

Are you finding any tip die off? Swelling of the twig behind the buds? We have a wicked little wasp here that has infested our Black Oaks very badly. Crypt Gall Wasp. As far as I know it only affects Blacks, but there are around 70 different types of this little bastid. There is no pesticide, to date, that will really control them, at least in their infancy. We expect to lose 70-80 percent of our Black oaks. It's terrible.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

WOW

 

[Bodean]

It's tough to have a tree and turf.

Any fill over 6 inches is impacting.....
I've never thought of irrigating an oak over 3 years old....

Fungul components in the canopy are natural, circle of life.

I'm curious how your oak goes....

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I too think you made a good call FWIW. And I agree with Deva, be interesting to see over time to see how it does now that the water will be less.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's tough to have a tree and turf.

And there you go.

 

[Bermy]

Yes...I even hinted they might be better off with a giant mulch circle under the tree, leave the lawn and all the irrigating to itself, improve the soil environment for the tree.
I took the pic of the decaying branch in case anyone said 'EEEK! that's super fungaloidical nastiness, called XYZ. I did reckon it was a normal part of decay. Its the biggest dead branch in the area affected.

It seems people assume that if they see anything wrong with a tree, then fertilizer must be the answer, I discussed things like the mass:energy ratio and how pushing fertilizer can push soft growth at the expense of energy needed for recovery and maintenance of the present mass. Maybe ok for young trees but not necessarily for old ones.

The dieback is general on the affected side, not tip specific.

I'll be up there next week for another look see.

 

[treesandsurf]

Where is this tree? Very beautiful tree,

jp

 

[Bermy]

Its in Tasmania, there are lots of European species here dating from the colonial era, this area especially.
Quercus robur.

There is a bigger one on another property where I do work that is heritage listed, its close to 200 yrs, that is real old for an introduced species over here.

 

[Bodean]

It sounds like you're doing a good job and recommending the best management practices.,,ie mulching and cordoning off.
Removing deadwood is a good idea especially with under traffic.


Pushing ferts is cheating and like pushing meth on a geriatric...
200 year old oak is not as viable or normal as a young supple jobber....

Provide slow gentle changes...

How does a naturally evolved to "England" oak handle itself in Tasmania's Hot humid enviro?
Seems lush in the photos.

 

[Bermy]

Yup, ditto on the fertilizer...the HO's were doing it themselves. I think the Mr. works for one of the large agricultural fertilizer places...very rural here.
We've had a wet winter, and trees are flushing out well everywhere this spring.

Actually Tasmania is temperate with a climate like England, but with better summers. The humidity is waaayyyy down too. I think they consider a very humid day like 60%! We are at 42* south...

Does anyone have an opinion on minor crown reduction on the affected side? I have read where some consider that if feeder roots have died, to cut back some of the canopy correspondingly.
I lean towards that meaning new cuts, so there would be more drain on remaining resources for wound closure...better left alone to find its own balance.

What say you?

 

[canadiantreeman]

Those robur are amazing trees! They grow well here too, and we are in a semi arid temperate region. There are a few older established oak trees that are thriving on sites without any irrigation. Impressive trees down there!

With regards to the cutting, I'd remove any potentially hazardous deadwood and nothing more. Perhaps the affected branches are translocating resources and very well should be left alone until a clear retrenchment point on the individual branch can be located (concentration of vigour). If your clients seem willing to defer to your expertise, would they consider allowing the time to let the tree adjust to this recent change, in its own time? If there are no safety issues, then no real need to cut in this case IMO. That mulch is a must for this tree, in comparison to the turf, but I feel your pain. I've worked for many folks who I basically plead with about mulching their large trees...but almost always to no avail.

I feel the tree is in excellent hands, its just a matter of convincing the HO to step back and allow you to do your thing!

What kind of concentrations of fertilizer was/is the HO using?

 

[Bermy]

Yup, that's pretty well what I told them, really, they stopped the irrigation already, they are going to put in another french drain outside the dripline to take care of the really wet spot in the lawn and there isn't any deadwood of any significant size except the one in the picture, and its still well attached.
I told them to be very careful when digging the drain trench, to hand dig as soon as they reached roots of any size, and if anything did get cut by a machine to make sure it was left clean and smooth
I'm not sure what kind/conc of fertilizer was used, I can check on my next visit...going to see how things are progressing and do some hand pruning on ornamentals round and about. Going to suggest the mulch ring...I did tell them that Kew Gardens in the UK has moved to mulch all their big specimen trees!

 

[Bodean]

Mulch invites a much needed ecosystem of micro flora and fauna......and bugs.....and a free dump site.

 

[treelooker]

to start with, there's a strong whiff of bs when owner says there was no eqpt in an area that had dirt dumped in it. machines usually do that job in this day and age and place (Tazz?).

How much was it filled, how deep? Probe to see, and spec aeration based on quantity and quality of fill dirt, maybe .5-1m apart. probe below fill to see condition of roots. if they are dying you should see that. sour smell means emergency aeration maybe radial trenching. shove all this in the landscaper/designer's nose if you get a chance

Butch, even us dumb climbers should have a 25$ soil probe or at least pick, shovel and trowel handy. those tools can make us look like geniuses as they get us talking about the important half of the tree. if the fill is total crap then remove it and mulch; otherwise i tend to live with turf and get oxygen below it where tree roots are. attached has fill spec fwiw.

but following root care yes reduce declining branch ends, to upright laterals, for hormonal/hydraulic retrenchment, and aesthetics. re the fungus prune/chisel the dead stub to callus. if its too ugly then paint it. Gorgeous tree, good luck Fi!

 

[treelooker]

boy when i kill a thread it stays dead! sorrybout dat.

roots are boringer noi doubt.

 

[Bermy]

Ha, thanks Guy, good info, sorry I didn't check for a while and your post got shuffled down the line on What's New!
I'm stopping by there tomorrow, checking up on some ties I've put in a few small oriental planes, trying to get new branches to grow into the wind...prevailing wind is 'sculpting' the soft new growth.
I have a small chestnut on another property nearby all tied off with carpet strips, fishing line pulleys and lead weights...

I'll do a wee bit of exploratory digging in a suspicious wet spot.
The HO Mr. said the fill is very free draining, the water goes through and is backing up once it hits the original soil level...