Oak tree leaves?

Question

I have an oak tree growing in my garden. It is still very young and at the moment stands about 4 feet tall. The problem I have is that the leaves at the top of the tree are turning a powdery white colour and are beginning to die. What is this, and how can I treat it? My son planted an acorn in a tub and the tree has grown from there so I really don't want to lose it.

Answer 1

When you say powdery white it makes me think of mold. Top dress the soil around the tree with manure. Take a sample leaf to the gardening store and ask them what it is. Some things can just be sprayed with soapy water from an atomizer but there are some that need to be treated with something more specific. If it's a fungus soapy water won't help. See if you can find an example here:

http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=diseased+oak+leaves&spell=1

Answer 2

sounds like a fungal infection - you should be able to get a spray from your local garden centre. However when you come to plant it make sure it is a good 100 feet from the house as they grow very tall and the roots spread as high as it grows and can damage the foundations of the house.

Answer 3

The ground may be too dry or the roots may be encountering obstructions or the soil may have too much of certain chemicals or too little of others. Make sure it gets watered during the summer. It would probably also be a good idea to have your soil tested.

Answer 4

If you live in the USA you can talk to your County Extension Service. Sometimes it's very hard to find them in the phone book but they are quite knowledgeable. In my area they are listed in the Government area of the phone book. I've got help from them when we lived in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.

Answer 5

try this web site, hope it has the info you need.

http://www.treehelp.com/trees/oak/species-oak-iandd.asp

I know how sentimental trees can be, I also have a tree (sequoia) which was grown from a seed and is now about 40 '

good luck

Answer 6

Did you gurdle it with your weedwacker. If so it will probably die.