Declining Oaks...are not that easy to sort out. There is an assumption that if an oak tree is dying it must be due to a disease. That is usually NOT the case. Most of the poor growth that we see on oak trees in Kansas is generally due to a combination of site factors and environmental extremes. 2018 and 2019 provide back to back examples of weather extremes. Add in site factors like tree planting depth (too deep), construction damage, heavy soils or compacted soils that drain poorly, sandy soils that don’t hold on to water very well, and trees can develop root systems that are not as vigorous as they should be. The result is a situation where trees are prone to declining under weather extremes – and Kansas is all about extreme weather.
A look at some weather data for Johnson County (Olathe, KS) provided by the K-State Weather Mesonet shows that the 20yr average annual precipitation is 40.04” for that location. At a glance it is easy to see that some years run wetter than average and some years are drier than average. I picked the Johnson County, KS location to highlight because we frequently get oak tree samples in the K-State Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab from the Kansas City area with questions about disease.
2018 was a dry year due to a winter drought and we saw trees decline across the state, including quite a few oaks from the Kansas City area. There was below average precipitation between November 2017 and September 2018. This weather snapshot also shows extreme weather during 2019, particularly during April and May. Saturated soils resulting in root damage and tree decline has been a common problem this year. Young trees and shrubs are particularly at risk due to smaller root systems. In many cases, damage wasn’t immediately apparent until June or July when higher temperatures put a greater demand on the root system. So bottom line, extreme weather patterns frequently play a role in the health of our landscapes. (Judy O’Mara)
Editors Note: Judy also discusses two diseases found on oaks in Kansas in her original article, Hypoxylon Canker and Oak Wilt. See https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/declining-oaks/ .
A look at some weather data for Johnson County (Olathe, KS) provided by the K-State Weather Mesonet shows that the 20yr average annual precipitation is 40.04” for that location. At a glance it is easy to see that some years run wetter than average and some years are drier than average. I picked the Johnson County, KS location to highlight because we frequently get oak tree samples in the K-State Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab from the Kansas City area with questions about disease.
2018 was a dry year due to a winter drought and we saw trees decline across the state, including quite a few oaks from the Kansas City area. There was below average precipitation between November 2017 and September 2018. This weather snapshot also shows extreme weather during 2019, particularly during April and May. Saturated soils resulting in root damage and tree decline has been a common problem this year. Young trees and shrubs are particularly at risk due to smaller root systems. In many cases, damage wasn’t immediately apparent until June or July when higher temperatures put a greater demand on the root system. So bottom line, extreme weather patterns frequently play a role in the health of our landscapes. (Judy O’Mara)
Editors Note: Judy also discusses two diseases found on oaks in Kansas in her original article, Hypoxylon Canker and Oak Wilt. See https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/declining-oaks/ .
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