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Oak tree problems

Hi

I am in need of some advice about my oak tree. Over the last week small sections, twiggy sections have leaves that have turned brown and then dropped off. The twiggy sections show a clean break where it has fallen from the tree and I can't see any sign of fungus on the tree (although a lot of the trunk and some branches are covered in ivy). None of the sections that have fallen off are longer than about 5 inches but each morning there is quite a lot of shedding on the grass. I have googled the problem but cannot find an answer. Can anyone help me please and should I be worried. Oh and it's a very mature tree. Thank you.

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  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    Mine is doing exactly the same. I thought it was the squirrels at first, but I think it's due to the dry summer. We have mown up loads today. Tomorrow I expect it to be just as  bad.

  • We get quite a few twigs on the lawn below our big ash trees - we put it down to portly wood pigeons image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Bits of twig fall off a lot of trees, in the wild you barely notice but when the self-prunings are on the lawn they show up. Under our poplars the dropped bits are big enough to need picking up before mowing



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • I've noticed in my garden that we have an awful lot of really unhealthy looking leaves on some of the trees, in particular the Oak and the Sycamore. Covered in horrible big black spots is the Sycamore and the Oak is covered in lumpy brown wart like lumps. Just about every leaf I can see on each tree. I don't know what all that's about, they seemed OK last year, maybe weather? Or do they have some horrible disease. The other trees I am seeing dying off in their multiples (not in my garden) are Chestnut trees. Row upon row upon row of them. All brown and dried up and dead already or well on their way. I saw something on TV a few months ago about the fate of a lot of Chestnut trees but I don't know anything about Oak or Sycamore. The Sycamores in my garden I could live without if I'm honest, horrible little breeders they are, but the Oaks I love. Any ideas anyone? 

  • Well that's good to know, thanks very much Edd image

     

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    Over the last few years we have had crown galls on the acorns, leaf spangle gall on the leaves, and this year the leaves look like they have been blasted with a shot gun. From below, the leaves are peppered with holes.  It still has plenty of acorns.

    Oaks are host to more insects than any other native tree. The  birds eat the insects , and a natural balance is obtained.

    I would need one of those cherry picker things to even contemplate spraying the oaks. Its a total non starter.  They were growing before my great grandad was born, and have survived everything the weather has thrown at them in 150years. I expect them to survive without my interference. Dead wood was taken out by a tree surgeon 2 years ago, he reckoned that they would need nothing doing in the next 20 years.

    Heather look at Oak spangle gall. It produces discs on the leaves that then fall off.

    We had a bad infestation one year. The next year nothing.

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    For oak decline,especially sudden oak decline caused by weeping bacterial cankers and cracks, see here

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=688

     

  • The issue with chestnut trees is another invader, this time a leaf miner:

    http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/learn/threats-to-our-woodland/pests-and-diseases/horse-chestnut-leaf-miner/?gclid=CKfc5vax1MACFRHHtAoduDgAig

    Fortunately, it only causes leaf disfigurement and early leaf fall.  At this point in time it is thought not to affect the long term health of the trees.

     

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Heather, the spots on sycamore are Tar-spot Fungus Rhytisma acerinum, an indicator of good air quality.

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    I looked at the twigs dropped by my oak, and they have a clear abscission zone, similar to the one at the end of leaf petioles when they drop. I found out that this can be caused by environmental conditions. I go back to my original conclusion, that it was due to the dry year. Expect an early leaf fall this year.

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