Iowa groves look sad

clones_jer

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Lay off the fertilizer. Don't prune the dead stuff until after Thanksgiving, or not at all. You might be out of the woods, or not. If tangled roots are an issue there's nothing you can do until the next stressful spell puts in back in decline. If the roots have taken hold and are NOT strangling each other you should have clear sailing. The picture doesn't show, but I'd prefer no sod within 3' of the trunk and no mulch touching the trunk.
There's nothing around the base. I dug a hole twice as wide and the same depth as the rootball and planted it. Only root impact I could see is that my soil has a pretty but clay content. it was loose around the tree when planted but has firmed up pretty good in the last 6 months.

any cure for tangled roots? I did give it a dose or two of root stimulator when I planted it ... should I try that again?
 

clones_jer

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Lay off the fertilizer. Don't prune the dead stuff until after Thanksgiving, or not at all. You might be out of the woods, or not. If tangled roots are an issue there's nothing you can do until the next stressful spell puts in back in decline. If the roots have taken hold and are NOT strangling each other you should have clear sailing. The picture doesn't show, but I'd prefer no sod within 3' of the trunk and no mulch touching the trunk.

BTW, the leaves suggest Pin Oak to me, not Red Oak. If so iron chlorosis would be your next problem in many parts of Iowa.

well that would be disappointing, definitely not a pin oak fan. I guess I'll have to see what color the leaves turn. There is a large established pin oak maybe 100' away down the hill, so hopefully that bodes will for the long term.
 
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cydnote

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I have this red oak tree (one of those popular "fast-growing / softwood" oaks) I planted last October that had a rough winter. I think the lack of snowfall and probably not enough moisture took a toll on it. It took a long time to bud this spring and when it did only the branches on the left side of this photo grew leaves, the right 'half' remained dead. Since then I've been giving it a dose of 20-20-20 plant foot and water and it's grew basically everything above the support pole. It's growing so fast on top it's top-heavy from all the leaves and I'm going to have to add more support.

questions: the lower right side branches appear dead - do I cut them off? I don't want to set this tree back worse than it is already. For a while I thought half the trunk was dead too, but it looks healthier now. suggestions?
I am not an arborist, so when questions such as these arise I rely heavily on ISU Extension services to guide me--free and knowledgeable/experienced (district forester).
Personally, i wouldn't prune any oak branches until the winter months to reduce Oak wilt risk. The support issue should also be clarified as i believe trees will develop stronger anchoring roots with less artificial support (once they are off to a good start to get established). Easier done with bare root trees than potted, and this applies to may other plants, but when I dig a hole for planting I make a cone shaped mound in the bottom of it to help distribute the roots in all directions. I know they have their place, but I have refrained from any of the fast growing (soft wood) deciduous trees on my property as most can be messy and are usually shorter lived. I know there is some disdain for the Pin Oak, but they can be majestic at maturity.
 
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ImJustKCClone

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I agree with Turn2 on the fertilizing part. Too much can be as bad as too little. Consider a soil test to determine fertility levels and pH of the soil. If you go that route, be sure to take the composite sample from WHERE the roots are accessing the nutrients. 4-6 cores taken around the tree, to a depth of 10-12 inches, then combined into one composite sample should do the trick. Many of the county extension offices have soil probes that you can borrow/rent. Likewise, when (IF) you fertilize, be sure you apply the product to the soil around the canopy, but UNDER the grass thatch (root zone of the grass). Otherwise, the grass can absorb much of your product.
 

clones_jer

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I agree with Turn2 on the fertilizing part. Too much can be as bad as too little. Consider a soil test to determine fertility levels and pH of the soil. If you go that route, be sure to take the composite sample from WHERE the roots are accessing the nutrients. 4-6 cores taken around the tree, to a depth of 10-12 inches, then combined into one composite sample should do the trick. Many of the county extension offices have soil probes that you can borrow/rent. Likewise, when (IF) you fertilize, be sure you apply the product to the soil around the canopy, but UNDER the grass thatch (root zone of the grass). Otherwise, the grass can absorb much of your product.
it's pretty small yet, there isn't much "canopy" to speak of. it was only about 6' tall when planted 6 months ago. It's probably 8' tall now. if I take 6 soil cores that's gonna be a LOT of missing dirt around the 1" diameter trunk
 

clones_jer

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I am not an arborist, so when questions such as these arise I rely heavily on ISU Extension services to guide me--free and knowledgeable/experienced (district forester).
Personally, i wouldn't prune any oak branches until the winter months to reduce Oak wilt risk. The support issue should also be clarified as i believe trees will develop stronger anchoring roots with less artificial support (once they are off to a good start to get established). Easier done with bare root trees than potted, and this applies to may other plants, but when I dig a hole for planting I make a cone shaped mound in the bottom of it to help distribute the roots in all directions. I know they have their place, but I have refrained from any of the fast growing (soft wood) deciduous trees on my property as most can be messy and are usually shorter lived. I know there is some disdain for the Pin Oak, but they can be majestic at maturity.

yeah, this was an fire sale tree I picked up late last year. I try to pick up 3-4 when they're marked down 50-75% right before the greenhouse closes, but that cheapskate method does limit options and time to start roots.

my property had a lot of fast-growing trees and "fence row" trees (willows / mulberries / etc) that are 30+ years old and died or got in the way for various reasons. Sellers took out 8 dead trees and I've taken about a few more, so now I'm trying to backfill with a mix of fast growers (to hide the empty spaces) and slow growers to eventually be my quality trees.

I planted a small grove of fruit trees that are growing SO well at the same time, but these guy has struggle bussed.
 

ackatch

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I stumbled upon these last year - called the "Hybrid Supertree" - it's a mix of 2 Willow species.


We have a field behind our house that's about 1/4 mile wide, and then there's I-80. The noise can get pretty bad and I wanted to plant a wind/sound break. I ordered 20 of these bad boys, and all but 2 of them are already over 6' tall. I know they're willows and are going to drop branches, but the area where I have them planted I plan on letting get overrun with native plants and trees.
 

ImJustKCClone

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it's pretty small yet, there isn't much "canopy" to speak of. it was only about 6' tall when planted 6 months ago. It's probably 8' tall now. if I take 6 soil cores that's gonna be a LOT of missing dirt around the 1" diameter trunk
Your goal is to get an average of the soil surrounding the tree. The probes take .5" to 1" wide cores
Not as much missing soil as you seem to think.
 

Turn2

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There's nothing around the base. I dug a hole twice as wide and the same depth as the rootball and planted it. Only root impact I could see is that my soil has a pretty but clay content. it was loose around the tree when planted but has firmed up pretty good in the last 6 months.

any cure for tangled roots? I did give it a dose or two of root stimulator when I planted it ... should I try that again?
this was an fire sale tree I picked up late last year.
If you planted a burlap covered rootball or a bucket off the Bomgaars (or similar) lot on a fall sale about all you can do is carefully dismantle the roots by hand and plant it without much of the soil that came with it. Try to carefully unknot any roots that have crossed or twisted before backfilling the hole. The dry fall and winter was not your friend, but hey, it's still alive. Survival rates from those sales are not high for novices, and much of the stress occurred before you took it home. I'd be inclined to just leave well enough alone for the rest of this season.
 
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clones_jer

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I stumbled upon these last year - called the "Hybrid Supertree" - it's a mix of 2 Willow species.


We have a field behind our house that's about 1/4 mile wide, and then there's I-80. The noise can get pretty bad and I wanted to plant a wind/sound break. I ordered 20 of these bad boys, and all but 2 of them are already over 6' tall. I know they're willows and are going to drop branches, but the area where I have them planted I plan on letting get overrun with native plants and trees.

Just me speculating, but a ton of the willows I had die off were in the lowest area of the property where the previous owner tiled about 10 years ago. I suspect growing for 20-40 years in a marsh, and then being in considerably drier soil was too much for a lot of them. Although with a willow it appears you can cut the whole dang thing down and the stump will issue you fresh trees within a week lol. They're nothing if not persistent.
 

clones_jer

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Apr 16, 2006
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If you planted a burlap covered rootball or a bucket off the Bomgaars (or similar) lot on a fall sale about all you can do is carefully dismantle the roots by hand and plant it without much of the soil that came with it. Try to carefully unknot any roots that have crossed or twisted before backfilling the hole. The dry fall and winter was not your friend, but hey, it's still alive. Survival rates from those sales are not high for novices, and much of the stress occurred before you took it home. I'd be inclined to just leave well enough alone for the rest of this season.
It was just one of those big plastic buckets. It's a step up from Bomgaars, a local mom & pop nursery, but similar idea.
 
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