I had a branch do this earlier in the season and I cut it off. Now more branches have died. My giant pussywillow started doing the same thing a few weeks ago and is now totaly dead. What's going on?
P
What's happening to my oaklief?
Could it be too hot or too dry or both?
It's been in that location for years where it's sunny and soil if ammended sandy loam which I do supplimental watering.
How much water? Oakleafs are noted for not liking wet feet.
Doug
I would monitor the soil semi-daily by inserting a finger to a depth of 4" to see if it feels wet, moist or dry. If it feels wet, take action including transplanting to a site where the soil is not as wet (unless it has recently rained or the sprinkler has gone off). I lost a 3-4' bush due to frequent rains during a span of 2-3 months. If your soil contains clay, you may need to heavily amend with compost, as compost absorbs large quantities of water and plant near the top of small hills, not in flat terrain as the bathtub effect may also be a problem..
While we had more rain than normal this year,I wouldn't call it a lot. Since there are several large loblolly pines in this area that drink up a lot of water,I do supplimental watering but not regular schedule. There's no clay. Original soil was very sandy loam that I've added compost,shredded oak leaves and pine needles to over the years.All the other plants,shrubs and trees around it are doing fine.
Another possibility to consider. I have noticed some tree branches die back on my way to work... many trees of different varieties. This winter we had an unusually heavy record breaking snowfall and I am wondering if winter damage is affecting the trees here and your oakleaf? Winter damage can go unnoticed during Spring. You can always take a sample to a local nursery or better, Agric Extension Service Office for analysis. They can "see" the problem better than we do thru the Internet. I would cut a piece all the way down to "green" -if you can- and take it to them right away.
Good idea. We had some snow fall but not a lot. Might have been that weeks worth of teen tempts,maybe?
Could be. Summer stresses the winter-injured areas that had been green and the trees change from nice all-green trees to green trees with lots of browned out stems.
Don't know if it hyas anything to do with it beacuse it's been a few years but my neighbors on that side cut down a big oak tree that put what once was a shade garden into hot afternoon sun. If this hydrangea doesn't survive,I'm planting a parsley leaf hawthorn there to put it back into shade.
Over here, hydrangea leaves have to be in the shade by 12pm or else they sunscorch during the summer months. If the plant is getting too much sun, you would notice that the leaves in direct contact with the sun are affected first. Leaves in the interior would last longer because they are protected by other leaves/stems/blooms.
no sunburn damaged noted just whole limbs turning brown suddenly
This happened to some branches of my shrubs after extremely high temps lingered for a couple of weeks. I felt scorched too! Heard that this was the hottest summer on record since 1880.
I have some macrophyllas that get a little pinch of afternoon sun--we've had generally a pretty cool summer but all of a sudden this week we had two days over 100 degrees (109 and 103) and the parts of those plants which are exposed to PM sun after just those two days of heat are looking brown just like your picture above. It happened very suddenly, not like the usual slower progression of sunburn that I've seen on other plants. So I'd say some combination of heat plus too much sun could have done that to your plants.
We've had 2 spells this summer with triple digit daytime temps that lasted for more than a couple of days. Someone posted a photo on the local news of a squirrel lying prostate on a tree branch that had succumbed to the heat!
so far only that limb has died....I'm waiting w/ bated breath to see if it has stopped there
We had extreme weather here in the last year. Very cold winter and lots of snow. (We had not had a winter like that forever) Then this summer we have had extreme heat all summer and hardly any rain. Everything here is dry dry dry!!! Can not keep up with the watering. All over our area I have noticed trees dying, parts of trees, and branches looking like your Oak leaf on many plants. We lost a Rhododendron in our yard. This last year has just been brutal on all that grows. Maybe it is just that. I hope you have good luck with it!!
another branch is dying....it may be on it's last leg