Question
Red Oak
Shortly after we bought our home in the Lakewood area of Dallas the city came along and hacked the heck out of our beautiful Red Oak in our back yard.
Several of the limbs do not have leaves on them. Recently a fairly large limb just fell off, no wind or storm.
There does not appear to be any disease on the tree although I am not an expert in the least.
Can you tell from the image provided if the tree is dying and if so is there anything that can be done to save it? Thank you.
AnswerYes I am sorry it does look like it is dying. More than likely a fungi entered the pruned limbs when it was cut back. I would try fertilizing 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 (if you apply the fertilizer just before a good rain storm you will not need to water it in). Do this now and again in the spring. It should increase the amount of foliage on the living limbs. The ones that are dead will need to be cut off. I would wait until the spring to see if some of them will sprout new leaves. Then cut the dead parts. Since it is near the power line you might talk the power company into cutting the dead limbs for free since they may fall on the lines. BUT make sure they do not cut any living limbs.
