Question
QUESTION: Hi

I have a 75-100 year old white oak in my front yard.  My city is condemning the tree and making me have it taken down because it is dying back from slime flux (that is what their arborist said).  It has dead limbs, but also has many live limbs - a moot point I suppose since they feel it is a hazard.  I hate losing the tree.  My question is - when the tree is taken down should I have the stump ground or will that cause the disease to spread to other plants and trees? - the only close ones are a dogwood and a bradford pear - but I have 3 very large pecan trees not too far away in the backyard.  Will I be able to plant another tree on the site of the white oak - or will it too, succumb to slime flux?  Is there anything I can do to eradicate the disease in the area?  Or should I just put container planters on the stump?!  Thanks very much.  Lisa

ANSWER: The slim flux will not spread form species to species. It is a bacteria disease which builds up in the tree and the pressure causes the sap to flow. This is not what killed the tree. Slim flux will infect trees under stress and more than likely the oak was dying from another cause and the flux started. If you keep the other trees healthy by fertilizing them they will not get slim flux. fertilize with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and water in good. You can fertilize now and again in the Fall. There is no reason to "eradicate" the slim flux since the tree has been cut. Grinding the stump will have no effect on the bacteria and can be done if you want to get rid of the stump. Grinding usually takes the stump down to about 6-10 inches below the soil line and you will still have a stump under the ground that will make it hard to plant right on top of the old stump area. Planting near it will not be a problem as far as the possibility of transmitting the slim flux to the new trees.

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QUESTION: If slime flux did not kill the tree - is there a likely cause otherwise?  We had a very bad drought here in Alabama last year - but the tree seemed to be dying back before that.  Do White Oaks have a natural "life span"?  Thank you very much for your previous answer - I really appreciate it.

Answer
Alabama has been under a drought for the last several years and has stressed the urban as well as the forest trees. I would guess that the dry weather put the tree is stress and a disease called Hypoxylon was able to infect the tree and kill it. More than likely several insects (borers) and diseases (root rot) had a hand in the death.

Yes Oaks have a natural life span and in the urban setting the life is shortened from a "normal" life in a forest situation mainly due to the lessen of moisture and the heat of city streets.

You can contact the Alabama Forestry Commission office in your county and ask one of the Foresters to come take a look. Their phone number should be in your local phone book. This is a free service. You can tell them I sent you --I worked as the Forest Health Specialist for 34 years with them--maybe one of them will remember me.  

here is a web link that will give you information on Hypoxylon Canker.
http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/Homegardens/hypoxylon.html