Is this oak dying?

[Fuddy1952]

Lots of oaks here, some are very old and all doing well with green leaves. In first picture you see the one. I noticed leaves turning brown shriveling up and falling.
It's not that old, I've been here forty years and that's about how old it is.
I assume it's dying but can't figure out why?

 

[MossRoad]

I'd look up Sudden Oak Death and see if that matches what you see.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

I've had the Virginia Forestry fellow out here, as well as Davey Tree, to look at dying oaks. Here in Virginia, our oaks are dying from a fungus that was introduced/first identified, in Wisconsin in 1919, from global warming, and from old age. Davey said they could introduce an insecticide every other year, which has a 50% affective rate. $300 a tree a treatment. Also said to mimic a forest bed - mulch. While Davey said the mulch should cover a 3 foot radius, I disagree. I think the mulch should extend to the drip line. My neighbor, who has oaks in the lawn, plans to try the mulch. My oaks are in my forest (50 acres), and there are too many of them a $300 a pop. Those oaks have a forest floor, so I don't see that adding the mulch will be that effective. I've lost some beautiful oaks, towering 80 feet. The trees leave behind the issue of disposal. A dead, 80 foot tree, at forest edge, is a safety hazard, a challenge to cut (10' circumference trunk) and leave a lot to dispose. I'm not in the firewood business, and around here, we can't give away uncut timber, standing or not.

 

[plowhog]

I assume it's dying but can't figure out why?

How much water is it getting? Too much?

I've recently tried transplanting some small Black Oaks from one property to another. All of the small ones that I watered have died. The ones in dry unwatered dirt are doing fine .... just a thought.

 

[Fuddy1952]

All good thoughts. I guess it's possible too much water, but an oak maybe 100ft away is doing fine (that one I'd hate to lose, my grandfather planted it 40 years ago and it came from Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest). I can fell this one, although it's under a 7200v power line . Maybe THAT'S what killed it!

 

[4570Man]

I’d wait until next spring or until the bark starts falling off to tell for sure but I’d say it’s dead.

 

[jaxs]

IDK about other states but Oak Wilt is killing trees in Texas. Have you ever put down weed-n-feed or applied any kind of herbicide in the vicinity? Wind and water can transport chemicals from one place to others.

 

[oosik]

A really sad situation. Your bottom picture looks like what my Ponderosa pines exhibit when attacked by Pine Bark beetle. Loss of bark - lots of "sawdust" - cambium layer turning red/orange. In my case - felling and burning is the only answer.

Have a trusted arborist look and tell you exactly what is happening. Do you need to take it down immediately - will it recover - can it spread to other oaks.

 

[LD48750]

Looks & sounds like the "Oak Wilt" we have here in MI.
Has killed a dozen of my trees in the last few years.

 

[Fuddy1952]

IDK about other states but Oak Wilt is killing trees in Texas. Have you ever put down weed-n-feed or applied any kind of herbicide in the vicinity? Wind and water can transport chemicals from one place to others.

No chemicals near it.