Post oak trees losing leaves

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I have a couple of young post oak trees in my yard,planted 2.5 years ago. They have been very healthy up to now but are losing lots of their leaves. They had quite a few Japanese beetles in July, but I sprayed and got rid of them. Anyone else noticed similar problems? Should I be worried about the long term health of these trees?

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Couple of pictures

 

[smstonypoint]

Jerry,

I am of no help, but in case you don't obtain any help here, you could try calling your local Cooperative Extension office in the morning. They may be aware of any pest/disease problems in your area.

Also, it is difficult to tell from your photos, but your leaves appear to have sharper edges than the post oaks that I am familiar with --

Your leaves look more like red oak leaves than post oak leaves to my untrained eye.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[lilranch2001]

If you are under drought conditions, some trees shed some leaves so as to minimize water loss.

If you are not, then ignore my post

 

[oosik]

I can't tell by your pictures - but do you have Sap Suckers? They are a species of woodpecker that bores hundreds of holes around the main trunk of a tree - they eat the sap that comes out of the holes and eventually the tree will die. The holes are close together and usually completely encircling the trunk in a grouping about one foot high.

The cure is to wrap the entire trunk in burlap or coat the entire trunk with a product such as tangle foot. I had two Hawthorn trees - about 4-5 years old - lost one to the actions of sap suckers. I think, so far, I've saved the second one by wrapping with burlap. I've noticed the burlap also stops the ant/aphid problems in the leaves.

 

[CrownHawg]

We had some kind of worm in our trees here in Arkansas a couple years ago. Do you notice a lot of small black droppings around the trees? In a matter of weeks, these worms stripped ALL hardwoods of their leaves in June.

 

[Fossil Farm]

Do you have any of the leaves available? I do not see any on the ground. Oak wilt usually causes the leaf edges to brown, then fall or brown the whole leaf. There are usually small open wounds on the tree from the insects burrowing into the tree. The photos almost look like the leaves were at least partially eaten which could be many caterpillars from gypsy moth to some of the saw caterpillars (not sure of their real name) that attacked the upper part of the tree. The lower leaves look pretty healthy per the photos. More investigation of the tree bark and leaves would be helpful.

 

[bigtiller]

Was it a hot day and cold water that you sprayed with? It will come out of it next year.

I gave one of my 10' tall oak trees a "drink" 5 years ago on a very hot late july afternoon with the garden hose. I watered the ground and sprayed the entire tree. By evening the leaves had curled and in 2 weeks all the leaves had fallen off. But, the good news is I didn't kill it. The following spring it leafed out as it normally would.

 

[the old grind]

Just a side note, but get tips or read up on pruning for eventual shape, balance, etc. Keep a central leader defined, trim/remove narrow forks and crossed branches before they become limbs, that sort of thing if either tree will be 'the big one' someday. ("mighty oaks..")

I agree the trees will likely bounce back as if nothing happened. Remaining leaves look dark & healthy, so both trees seem to be well established. :thumbsup:

Looks like you'll have plenty of room to rake, too.

 

[mjw357]

They look like red oaks to me, also. But that was not your question.

In the first pic, in the upper right part of the tree, looks like the leaves are dead and skeletal, like something ate them? You might have some kind of larvae attacking your trees.