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| Hi,
Can anybody tell me what to do about the bark falling off of this Spanish Oak? I'm in Austin, TX and we've had a severe drought for two years. It does look like woodpeckers damaged the bark above the piece that fell off. I'm also curious what the fuzzy thing is attached to one of the leaves. There are tons of them in this tree. The link below goes to my Flikr photos. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Photos
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Believe it or not, those are called Fuzzy Oak Galls, one of the galls caused by a tiny Cynipid wasp. Not a problem for the plant at all, just a normal phenomenon. I'd be much more worried about what appears to be decline of the tree and the bark falling off. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 26, 12 at 9:59
| do you know the history of this tree ... could it have been damaged during house building ... yard regrading.. etc ..... i find it interesting that the wound is on the side opposite the lean ... more facts.. before i spend a lot of time speculating ... ken |
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| Thanks for the interest. This native tree is about 30' from my house which was built 3 years ago. The tree is leaning because it was competing with a companion tree on the left that was closer to the house. The companion tree died two years ago because the house was too close and it didn't get enough water during the first year of the drought. This tree also had a rather large limb broken off around 6' off the ground. I cut it properly and sealed it after we moved in, about 8 months after the damage occurred. Thanks for any advice. |
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| bump...any suggestion? |
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| Look up Hypoxylon canker. It COULD be the problem, and it fits the bill in the house was built 3 years ago, followed by drought. There will be lots of Oaks dying from it around the country (including my area) over the next couple of years due to this organism and the ongoing drought. Arktrees |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Sep 6, 12 at 12:16
| my bottom line.. peeps try to save large trees during construction.. but no matter what happens.. it just doesnt work very well ... its going to die.. though that might take a decade or two to do so ... most likely.. the whole yard was regraded.. and when a tree has its roots in the first 6 inches of soil [speculating] .. and then all of a sudden the whole yard is bulldozed.. and they are now 12 inches done ... well.. stuff happens ... the decline will be slow and steady ... and the actual thing that kills it.. will vary.. e.g. ark suggests the canker.. but the real problem is that the tree is severely stressed.. allowing.. in this example.. the canker to hold .. even if you were to cure that.. if possible.. you cant and wont heal the inherent problems from the building ... if it were me... i would plant 3 or 4 other trees in the general area.. and get then going .. established ... and start coping with the fact.. that this one has to go.. sooner or later .... ken |
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| I would find the good wood by picking the cracked bark away. Do that for the whole wound. I've done this with a number of red oaks in north Texas and have been able to save most with care. Cut the dead wood out and keep the soil moist in the root zone. I would not give up just yet. Does not look like hypoxylon canker to me. |
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| It's not hypoxylon (which itself is really just a symptom of a dying oak), but it does show that there's a significant area of the trunk where the cambium has died. That may or may not seal over, and in the meantime it provides an entrance point for decay fungi. There's also quite a bit of dieback in the crown. It does not look like it's likely to do much harm if it falls, so perhaps no need to rush to cut it down, but I would not hold out hope that it will recover and be a vigorous tree in the future. |
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| Thanks everybody. |
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