Huge Live Oaks losing bark

jarrette

Hi everyone!

I have a 5 acre piece of property in the Texas hill country just north of San Antonio. On the property, I have a section that has about 15 or so HUGE Live Oaks. These things must be close to 100 ft tall (pure guess, could be more or less).

A couple of the trees have lost half their bark vertically. Is this an indication of disease?

Eric Frei

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TreeSpecialist

Large areas of bark being sloughed off of oaks in the Texas Hill Country have almost always been due to the drought we have just come out of. The stress organism responsible for the dieback is usually Hypoxylon canker - although just dying back because of the drought is also seen.

I have had calls about (and seen) hundreds of trees in similar condition. In 35 years of doing work on trees in Central Texas, the last 2 years of dought is the worse I've ever seen.

Also, I doubt that your trees are 100 feet tall. If they were, they would be record holders in Texas.

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jarrette

I guess I suck at guessing height haha. They are huge, however many feet they are.

The drought has been horrible, will these trees be OK long term? Anything I can do?

I'll post some pics soon. Thanks for the help.

TreeSpecialist

Water.

Sounds simple but often isn't. If you have a good well, soak the trees once a week. (Soaking means putting out at least the equivalent of 1 to 1.5 inches of water.)

The "stress" the trees have suffered through is a significant lack of water. While live oaks (Quercus fusiformis) are well known for being somewhat "xeric" or able to tolerate drought, the last 2 years have been especially brutal.

Last summer we had 65 days of 100º+ days. Coupled with no water, it was more than the trees could take. Many of the hill country live oaks subsist on a scant 3 or 4 inches of soil - some even less.

Everything that goes on it a tree relies on water as the delivery agent. For roots to absorb nutrients, the nutirents have to be in a solution. For the products of photosynthesis to move to the roots, water has to be present. For defensive chemicals to be made to prevent decay, water is needed.

Without water, the system we call the tree can't survive.

Additional measures for high value trees would be to spread 2 inches of a finished compost beneath the drip line of the tree(s) followed by an inch or so of a hardwood mulch. In addition to slowing water loss, the mulch/ compost combination will also keep the soil cooler making the environment for the roots a friendlier place.

I've just returned from looking over a ranch where the drought has killed a variety of different species - elm, juniper, live oak, hackberry, even mesquite. Very shallow soils along with a little Hypoxylon canker have taken their toll.

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