Native Plants
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Wednesday - July 25, 2007
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Diseases and Disorders
Title: Oak diseases as a result of wet, cool weather
Answered by: Damon Waitt
QUESTION:
The mature live oak trees in our back yard have been dropping leaves just like they do in March, but this is July! Small to medium spots on the leaves turn brown before they drop. The veins of the leaves are still green. The trees are growing on a well-drained slope in shallow soil over limestone here in the hill country just west of Austin. Asiatic jasmine grows under some, but not all, of the trees. This has never happened in the past 13 years. Does it have to do with the heavy rainfall? Will they survive? Do we need an arborist consult?ANSWER:
It is our good fortune that James Houser, the Texas Forest Service Oak Wilt Technical Coordinator, recently addressed this question on the texasoakwilt.org website. You can click here to view a pdf version of his article with images.More Diseases and Disorders Questions
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