# Oak tree struggles



## Necrosis (Jul 12, 2018)

So I have an Oak Tree out front which is about 4-5 years old. It is very short compared to the other trees in the neighborhood and has an odd growth pattern. Like the lowest branches curl downward and appear gnarled. (I'll try and post a pic later). I've been trying to prune it as best I can to encourage growth in the lateral direction but haven't been getting much. Any general tree care tips? I'm watering it quite a bit and fertilizing it some with the grass. Any general tips would be great.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Do you know the specific cultivar? Red Oak, White Oak, etc.? Their growth rate varies but should be between 1' and 5' per year.

Who planted the tree? Without seeing any pictures, first guess is the roots are girdled. Post some pictures and lets have a look. If you can scratch the dirt off the surface at the base of the tree, and take some pictures there too that would help.


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## Necrosis (Jul 12, 2018)

Sorry for the dark pick. It's a red oak. It doesn't seem to be girdled. I brushed off a ton of mulch on it when I moved in a year ago down to the root flair. I'll see if I can get some picks of the dirt here tomorrow.


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

You really don't want mulch or dirt above the root flair.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I'll tell you more likely than not what happened. I had this same issue in my neighborhood.

Around here for new housing developments they have to plant a certain number of trees. So they drove down the street and dug a hole in each yard and threw a tree in it.

I took mine tree out and the root ball had never been opened up, so it grew in on itself. It had like a 24" solid round ball. And the tree itself was stunted.

I replaced mine with a palm tree.

TL;dr - improper planting and it's rootbound. Confirm and replace.


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

SCGrassMan said:


> I'll tell you more likely than not what happened. I had this same issue in my neighborhood.
> 
> Around here for new housing developments they have to plant a certain number of trees. So they drove down the street and dug a hole in each yard and threw a tree in it.
> 
> ...


Agreed. I had a tree get uprooted last year and the rootball was just that, no root development beyond it. I plan on replacing my other tree this year, hopefully a Japanese maple.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Love those!


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