I don't fertilize the trees or water the trees except for what they get when I water my grass. I water 1" a week unless we get rain, and each tree gets dripped during that irrigation.

==>> most likely insufficient water.. thru the root ball planted .. in the heat of summer..

lawn water will not allow enough water at depth ...

take a hand trowel.. and dig a 3 to 6 inch hole.. and find out how dry it is.. at depth ...

see link for watering ideas ...

its not surprising to me ... that it 'showed' when the heat of summer hit ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Did you untangle the root ball when planting? If not, then it's possible that it grew so tightly in its pot that it became a dense ball that water can't penetrate. Any water poured on top of it would then simply sheet down off around the sides..

And over the next months, pushing a year...the root ball would then slowly dry out until it's completely dry. So, all the while that you've been watering it...your plant may have actually been slowly dehydrating like during an extended drought.

This is actually very common. Plants will quickly overgrow their nursery pots. But, if your roots are tightly pot-bound when you pull it out...then you MUST (manually) untangle them, like combing out dreads.. Keep in mind that this will also induce some transplant shock in the short run due to dislodging soil from the roots...but as long as it survives that, it will be far healthier in the long run.

If your Live Oaks have never grown any new leaves since they were planted, then it is likely that they have been on a slow decline since then.. And water-resistant pot-bound root balls could be the problem.