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[SteveM121]

I planted three beautiful 15 foot evergreen oaks on 31st October last in a spot that was occupied by several Laylandii trees which were professionally removed. The oaks seemed to settle in nicely and there was a lot of rain throughout November and in to December so they benefitted from that. However, with the current dry spell I started to notice the leaves browning quite a lot so I have watered them down three times now in the past 10 days but the browning has become very prominent. I’ve checked for any pest activity but there doesn’t appear to be any. Does anyone have any experience of this and I am looking for advice on how to get the leaves green again. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[bobkinger]

Hi Steve from what I’ve experienced, any leaves that are dying now won’t turn green again. What will probably happen is that new leaves will sprout to replace the ones that are fallen. I think what is happening is that the tree is going through some kind of transplant shock (it’s normal since it’s transplanted). The buds that were formed last year were “geared” to growing conditions in the nursery which are always “ideal”. Now, the tree went ahead and opened those up without yet realizing that conditions were different. but I know oak has two main growth sessions per year, spring and fall, so if you keep it well watered but not soggy and mulch the soil to keep most of the water in, it should try again to send out new shoots and leaves come fall. That’s what I think will happen. It might also be that the browning is due to sunburn, but same, you just wait until fresh new leaves appear. Maybe pull a shade net over it but 15 feet is tall, not so easy for sure.

[SteveM121]

Thank you bobkinger for your insight. I will do just that

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