Live Oak dying (thinning) on top

johnsommer

I have two live oak trees planted the same time - One looks full and one is really starting to thin on top? Any ideas why and is there something I can do. Bottom half looks O.K. See Photos!!

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Brent Ferris

How long have you had these trees? Both look like they were "planted" with a tree spade. Tree spade companies usually give a 2 year guarantee on survival. It is hard to tell from the pics -- need a close up of the base of the trunk and surrounding soil to know? What kind of soil do you have, and what kind of soil did the trees originally grow in?

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Eric Frei

I can see lots of cracks in the bark of the first tree, not good.

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johnsommer

I have had the trees for about 3 years now in this location. Purchased from a nursery - I have no idea where they came from. My soil is a sandy clay soil. There are a lot of round holes in the bark of the trees. I'll take some close up pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. Thanks a lot fro trying to help me.

Gadwall

You may try a deep soil aeration for the thinning tree. Sometimes the clay soils are so compacted on new construction that the oxygen cant get to the roots.