Native Plants

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Tuesday - June 02, 2009

From: Weatherford, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Why is my Chinkapin oak losing its leaves this spring?
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

We have a chinkapin oak that was planted about two years ago in our front yard. This year it leafed out nicely but about a month ago the leaves began to roll up, then dry out and fall off. It seems that the twig the leaf fell off of it now brittle. What could be happening?

ANSWER:

Diagnosing plant diseases and developmental problems from afar is rarely successful.

Something that you can do is to see if you can determine how this spring is different from last spring. One common problemof trees in landscape conditions is overwatering. The University of Florida Extension has a nice article explaining soil plant water relationships.