Question
tree
I have a large Live oak close to the house. It has started shedding some bark on the trunk. Started small now growing.... The canopy seems fine and has plenty of green leaves and millions of acorns this year.
Can it be fixed? Remedies?
If not how long will it take to destroy the tree?
Central FL.
Tree is 100+inches in diamater
AnswerLooks like a borer has infested the bark. Borers are insects that drill into the bark and wood and usually there is a dark or wet spot where the insect enters. This is a sign of the tree being under stress--maybe dry weather, need of fertilizer or some other stress. I would spray the trunk with an insecticides called Onyx or Merit. This will soak into the bark and kill the insects under the bark. Spray now and again near the end of the summer of early fall.
Then fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Apply the fertilizer just before a rain storm and you will not need to water. The fertilizer will increase the overall health of the tree and prevent borers from attacking. Fertilize now and again in the fall.
