Please help with dying water oak / mushroom explosion

sorentexas

Help!

I believe my huge water oak is dying. We built our home a little over two years ago. We were extra cautious not to disturb the trees. The tree below is about 4 ft from my driveway (unavoidable). I live Outside The Woodlands, Texas. Our lot was extremely wooded and held water on part of it. We have oaks, pines, hollies, and lots of yupon. So, I believe the soil to be naturally acidic.

The first season, the tree looked great. However, I had a huge pile (several yards) of compost on the driveway next to it. I went through the pile during the first year and replaced it with "fill", which is basically sand. The fill pile sat on the driveway next to it for about 6 months as I placed it. My theory is, the compost help the tree the first year, but the fill changed the acidity level the next. The tree hasn't leafed out very much and seems like it's in decline.

I tested the soil and it seems neutral to slightly acidic about 2 months ago. I placed home-made compost all around the base and added a layer of mulch. A few weeks later I added some "worm poop". It seemed to fill out a little more. A month later I added a little sulfur.

However, it's still pretty thin. Yesterday I also noticed black spotches on the base of the tree. I'm not sure how long they've been there. They look like burn marks. The summer has been very hot and dry, but I've been watering the tree twice a week.


tree canopy:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100415.JPG


black, burnt looking splotches on trunk:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100422.JPG


partially dead leaves on trunk:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100414.JPG


Leaves:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100425.JPG




On a side note, on the other side of the lawn (other side of driveway about 40 feet) I had a mushroom explosion. I'm concerned they are Honey mushrooms:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100417.JPG
http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100418.JPG

Here they are on the base of a different tree that appears very healthy:

http://www.fine-art.com/soren/P8100419.JPG



The mushrooms started a few days ago, after the big rain from Hurricane Eduardo. A few weeks ago I placed Scotts Organic Choice fertilizer on on the yard.


What a mess. Please Help!

Eric Frei

what's the soil moisture like?

Here's similar on a poinciana Juvenile poinciana problems - case study some 13000 miles away. We have been getting hammered the last 3 years with all sorts of fungal pathogens, cause is 3 year drought.

Think about natural water grade changes too, also how the water now flows? Like off the roof down a pipe to the street and tree misses out etc.

That tree was there for a long time and very used to the way things were, then a bunch of changes means it's defences are down. Those types of black spots on trunks from my experience means a pathogen that is active right in the vascular tissue having direct effects on the trees system.

Other fungi might cause rot and make the tree weak and fall, but those types stuff up the whole feeding/photosynthesis cycle.

You'll likely need a high calibre arborist to advise treatment, sulphur is a little toxic and makes soil pH acidic, there's other stuff around.

Also tree roots extend further than the canopy, if you scraped and turfed then more woes.

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treeseer

Yes. Even if the driveway being 4' away was "unavoidable", it was not necessary to damage the roots when you built it. ditto the lawn.

Classic case of construction damage. Now it will cost $XXX to try and save something, instead of $x to plan and preserve ahead of time.

right now there's more threat from overwater than underwatering.

pm TreeSpecialist here--he is from TX and very good with this kind of stuff.

the fungus with the fringed cap is not pathogenic. the stuff on that other tree; get a better pic if you want an ID.

sorentexas

Right on! That's exactly what it looks like. We've had an incredibly dry summer in Texas. However, as I mentioned, I've been watering it 2/3 times per week for about 5 min with the hose.

The tree is not near the house, but the water from the back flow past the tree about a few feet on the other side of the tree when it rains. My neighbor dug a trench a couple years ago. It is grass covered and water does not pool.

sorentexas

Any tips on this?

I'll do that, thanks.

[/QUOTE]

It appears to be the same fungus in the other pics. Any ideas what it is? I'll get a better pic tomorrow.

Thanks.

treeseer

Do not apply any water near the trunk. The roots you need to be watering are under the ends of the branches.

TreeSpecialist

Water oaks (Quercus nigra) are members of the red oak family.

The weeping cankers on the trunk are likely Phytophthora like infections.

Changes in drainage towards or away from the tree will cause some significant dieback.

You mentioned the driveway being 4 feet away from the tree - did you see it installed? Were roots cut?

Also, you didn't mention underground utilities. Buried water, sewer, gas, cable, electric, phone ..... where are they in relation to this tree?

Watering for 5 minutes may not be enough - water on the downhill side of the tree for 20 - 30 minutes and then let it dry out. Even a water oak can't stand constant wet feet.

Drying up the cankers can be done with chemicals - Aliette® of Subdue®.

I don't recommend them to be applied by homeowners.

Give Dave Hintz a call at Arborcare. They're the best company I know of in the Houston area.

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sorentexas

Thanks for the reply. You saved me a PM.

I've been worried about this all day. Depressed might be a better term. We moved here for the trees. Most of my neighbors cut down/lost most of their trees. We cut a hole in our lot where our house was to go and that's it. We still lost about 4 in front from fill compaction (even though I tried to dig them out the following day).

Anyway, SOD was the first thing I found on the Internet. However, I ruled it out as I thought it wasn't in Texas. Also, the black spots don't really seem to be weeping. They are not 3 dimensional. The simply seem to be black discoloration. But, if you touch it, it feels a little crispy. It looks like someone held a lighter to it. Also, the leaves don't appear to be dying on the crown and there is no black on any of the leaves.




It was a constant battle trying to protect my trees from my builder and his subs. They actually set a dumpster on a 20 foot holly. I'm sure they disrupted the roots for this tree. That was two years ago. No utilities next to it.


sounds like good advice, thanks.



I'm definitely going to get an arborist out here. I'll check them out.

sorentexas

Didn't know this, thanks.