Help! Is my Live Oak now a dead oak?

[Sandy Loam]

This questions does not belong in the "other tropical plants" forum, but I don't see where else I can ask it. 

I recently had a 15 gallon size Live Oak tree (Quercus Virginiana) delivered to my home . Its pot had not been watered for three whole days by the time of delivery, was watered immediately upon arrival, and then was not watered again for two days afterwards due to my won neglect.  The tree was finally planted in the ground, but by the time this happened, the lack of water (and heat) caused the tree to drop all of its leaves.  For the past month and a half, I have been looking at a dead tree.  It might not be dead, but it certainly has no leaves and I don't see any new buds growing on its branches.  Almost every leaf turned brown and fell off, except for a couple of branches which still have green leaves.  There might be a total of twenty green leaves on the entire tree.  It is truly bare.     

Is my Live Oak tree dead or will it come back?  I need to know this before I dig it up and pitch it for good.

Thanks to anyone who is familiar with this type of tree and can advise me. I only wish I had known that Live Oak trees were so needy for water.  Most other trees wouldn't have minded a couple of days with no watering, but apparently this species cannot tolerate even a single day without.        

[fastfeat]

Well, if it still has green leaves, it's not dead. Whether it's worth retaining versus replacing is another issue. Photos would definitely help. 

If containerized plants get planted with dry rootballs, they're very difficult to remoisten. Try trickling a hose VERY slowly right at the trunk. Deliver maybe five gallons of water over 1-2 hours. Might work to remoisten the 'ball...

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks for the advice, Fastfeat.  I will try doing that and if nothing works, I will simply buy another tree.  Now until August is our rainy season, so that should help.  If I do everything right, when should I start to see new leaves appearing on a Live Oak?  Do new leaf buds only appear in the spring?  If so, will I have to wait until then to know whether my tree is alive or dead?  (Is there no other way to know for sure?) 

By the way, I just noticed that you are gardening in both Miami and in Yorba Linda, CA.  Someone on TV recently called Yorba Linda (quote) "the land of eternal summer."  Is that true?    

[fastfeat]

You should have various flushes of new growth throughout the year, especially in spring and now with the rains. You should be able to establish a new one in the heat if you indeed pay attention to the rootball being kept evenly moist. Rains help much, of course.

I've never heard that line about Yorba Linda. Sounds like a real estate company's sales pitch... It's a nice mild part of OC, tho winters are definitely cooler than summers. USDA Zone 9B-10A, Mediterranean climate.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Keep it watered well and you should be fine. Live oaks like heat and water but expect some dieback on the outer branches due to this episode.   They are very resilient trees.  

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks. It has recently come back to life and has many new leaves all over it now.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Good to hear. Live oaks are very, very tough. IMO superior than a bur oak or red oak with respect to drought in my climate. Triple digits and 60 days of no rain don't phase them while red oaks and bur oaks drop their leaves. 

[Sandy Loam]

Y'all,

My live oak (discussed above) has not had any leaves on it for several months now, and no new buds are appearing on it.  I am starting to wonder if it is dead.  It did produce some leaves by last August, but it has been a leafless tree since, say, October.

Other trees around here are starting to produce buds, but not this one.  Admittedly, we had a very cold January this year, but I didn't think Live Oaks ever lost their leaves in winter.  In my region, I always see leaves on the big Live Oaks, no matter how cold it gets. 

Is my tree dead?        

  

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Live oaks won't defoliate until the single digits.  Smaller ones (healthy) will also loose some leaves during the winter before coming out in the spring.  You will have to be really tough on a live oak to kill it.

[DoomsDave]

@Sandy Loam, ouch, things sound inauspicious, alas.

But not necessarily lethal, at least not yet.

When I'm wondering if a dicot tree is dead I do the "fingernail test"; I scratch the bark of selected branches and twigs with my fingernails. If it's green under the bark, there's a chance it may still live. If it's brown . . . .

Start with small twigs and work your way down to the base. Dead twigs don't matter; even large branches can still re-grow. If it appears that the base is dead, too, then I'd replace the tree. Sometimes the bark is too thick or tough to easily do this to. You can do the "water in the tissues" test; grasp the part you're wondering about with your hand, and if it's cold to the touch, it might still be okay (though it might also have recently died and not dried yet). If it's warm or even hot, it's dead. No water in the tissues to draw your body heat.

Sometimes a tree with dead branches will come back, though if you're in a hurry for some reason, you might want to start with a new one.

@fastfeat, come visit one of these days. You're right up the road from me!

[Matthew92]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2017‎ ‎9‎:‎40‎:‎32‎, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Good to hear. Live oaks are very, very tough. IMO superior than a bur oak or red oak with respect to drought in my climate. Triple digits and 60 days of no rain don't phase them while red oaks and bur oaks drop their leaves. 

Interestingly, to my knowledge, in Florida at least, it seems that live oak is mostly found naturally where there the soil is a little more moist than your upland xerophyllic area where trees like longleaf pine and sand live oak abound. Despite this though, I've seen many live oaks in my area planted in an upland xerophyllic environment, and they do just fine and adapt pretty well for the most part. Of course what really helps is that most of these transplanted trees are in an environment where there is some from of irrigation- still there are a few I've seen that get little or no irrigation and seem to do pretty darn well. There is only one area I can think of where some live oaks were planted and they have struggled and not grown much- it is in median/island area in a parking lot in a very dry situation- there is no irrigation and the surface below is basically open sand.

So I guess if they had a choice, live oak likes soil with just a little moistness for the benefit of the doubt. Also maybe their acorns don't germinate very well in the very dry areas too and that is why they don't naturalize in these areas.

I was pleased, however, to see how well the live oaks looked when I visited the Dallas area this past January (especially after the brutal cold which had just occurred before I got there). I also know there is a western variant of live oak- so maybe that's also what I was seeing in Dallas- I think that one may be more adapted to drier conditions as well.

Sand live oak on the other hand is the master of dry, hot, sandy areas. It's leaves are hard and curved, (much more so than a live oak) which are traits of a xerophyllic broadleaf tree. I've seen them growing on sand dunes at the beach. Unfortunately they are a little messy with the hard crunchy leaves that drop- and, they stain concrete.

Edited February 22, 2018 by Opal92

[Sandy Loam]

Opal92, I am not entirely sure what a Sand Live Oak is, but if it's what I am thinking of, they are native to the Panhandle. 

For example ---- In your neck of the woods (Destin region), if you go to Seaside, FL and head back to the long, rear courtyard (not the large main "square"), it is full of some type of sand dune oaks which are all bent, curvy and sinuous looking.  They are also much smaller than regular Live Oaks.  Is that what you mean by Sand Live Oaks?  ..... Or am I thinking of some other type of tree?

Thanks.

[Matthew92]

3 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Opal92, I am not entirely sure what a Sand Live Oak is, but if it's what I am thinking of, they are native to the Panhandle. 

For example ---- In your neck of the woods (Destin region), if you go to Seaside, FL and head back to the long, rear courtyard (not the large main "square"), it is full of some type of sand dune oaks which are all bent, curvy and sinuous looking.  They are also much smaller than regular Live Oaks.  Is that what you mean by Sand Live Oaks?  ..... Or am I thinking of some other type of tree?

Thanks.

Oh, there are sand live oaks in Gainesville. They are just stunted when they are really close to the ocean. In fact, last I checked, the champion sand live oak is located in Gainesville, FL at over 90ft tall. They can get to a large tree size, but usually are just a little smaller than live oak. Also, they tend to be not quite as perfectly symmetrical as live oak. The bark is a little more "corky," the leaves have are a little more pale green (some people say it's an olive green), and of course the leaves are harder and curved.

Also, there is a handful of other native, scrubby, small oaks such as myrtle oak and dwarf live oak which you may have seen in Seaside.

Here's a good description with pictures of sand live oak Link.

 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

There is a western live oak variety found west of austin, but thats not what is planted in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Quercus virginiana is the species commercially grown, supplied and planted here. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

Ive thought about doing a live oak, but worry about how it would do in my utisol/rocky clay here. There is apparently a fine specimen in Annapolis, but their soil is far different then ours. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Live oak wont do well in zone 7 and would die during an epic freeze. My parents have a few that I gave them in 7B Oklahoma and this winter was really tough on them.  We'll see how much branch dieback they have in the springs.

[mdsonofthesouth]

You just murdered my dream lol....I keep seeing zones 7+ for live oaks and its only once ever 6+ years (most times its much longer) that we see zone 7 temps. But I wont take the chance on such a big tree. Was considering it to replace some shade trees we took down, but Ill just go another route like another Magnolia grandfloria as they are naturalized here...

Edited February 22, 2018 by mdsonofthesouth

[Laaz]

You want to see a epic live oak, look up our Angel oak. I can get seeds from it later in the summer.

[Dave-Vero]

The Smithsonian is working on growing a symbolic live oak for the African American history museum.   They seem to think they have a sheltered spot.   I think a bit inauspicious.  

[Turtlesteve]

mdsonofthesouth,

The western variety of live oak (Quercus fusiformis) is native in USDA zones 7/8 and is supposedly more cold hardy than Q. virginiana - but I don't know if there is variation in cold hardiness with provenance.  The two trees have the same look, but acorns are different.

There are many other oaks (and oak relatives) that are evergreen and cold hardy, but are rare in landscaping.  I am trying several, most recently Castanopsis cuspidata, which makes a tall open canopy and is supposedly hardy to zone 7.

Steve

[redbeard917]

Personally, I'd give up on it and plant a seedling or even acorns you gathered from under a quality specimen. You will avoid issues like potbound roots, and often, a decade later the seedling will actually be larger because you don't have setback due to transplant shock and other problems.