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pfgoergen

Pin oak problems

pfgoergen
10 years ago

I have a 5-6 year-old pin oak that showed no problems until this spring. But now the leaves are brown, shriveled and sparse. It's been very wet, but I noticed the problem quite early in the spring.

Any ideas?

Comments (2)

  • davidpeaceriver__2b
    10 years ago

    Can you post pictures of the soil and crown? Was the soil around the tree disturbed in any way? And is it near a driveway? It's possible that the tree could be suffering from some salt damage.

    I hope it's not oak decline. Some of your listed symptoms are consistent with that diagnosis, though. Have you had drought in the past few years?

  • Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
    10 years ago

    Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) is super sensitive to alkaline soils & starts to look chlorotic at pH values above 6.5-7.0. By the time you hit 7.2 to 7.5 pH, they look quite a bit like yours. 7.2 to 7.5 pH is pretty common in areas covered in limestone derived glacial till...that's most of southern Ontario & a lot of northern and western NY. What is your location (city?) and we can give better advice regarding soil pH.

    Pin Oak is STILL on our city's urban forestry planting list though there is not a single one in my city that looks decent and only two or three that have made it past 25 yrs old. We have bright yellow spindly Pin Oaks as street trees everywhere.

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