Red oak, roots eaten away? Worth saving?

[MotJuste]

Hello,

This is a red oak that was planted by my house's builder almost two years ago. It has never done very well compared to my other trees. It has developed a pronounced lean from the wind, and it always has a lot of brown leaves throughout the summer. The only time it really looks good is early spring when the new leaves come in, but they don't stay nice for very long.



Here are the leaves:



Last week I decided it was time to take more active measures to try to improve the health of this tree. I thought I'd give the sick tree treatment a shot. Step 1: expose the root flare. Some trunk flare was already exposed, but I figured I'd pull back a little more soil, just in case. I was shocked to see that the bottom of the tree looked like it had been completely eaten away. It was as if the core was dead, but two roots were coming out in a V to either side. Here are some pictures that I hope do it justice.

These are of the West side of the tree:



Notice how the center piece looks chewed up like a rotten log.



And here are a couple shots of the East side.



See the daylight coming through from the other side?




What advice do you have? Can this tree be saved? Is it worth trying? Would I be better off starting over and replacing it with a high quality tree? Is this really a red oak? If I'm going to have to replace this one, I'd like to do it now, during the fall, to give the new tree the best shot of getting established and growing. Some day I hope to have a tree that kids can climb in back there.

Thanks,

--Bill

[Tony M]

If you had a big lot and this was at the back of the property I would say try to save it and see what happens. Given that you have a city lot and this tree is quite visible, yank it out and get another that you can select and plant correctly.
Many of the nurseries are having tree sales right now. I would buy a small tree, less expensive and the roots have not had a chance to circle in the pot yet. Spend some time fertilizing, foliar feeding and watering the tree on a regular basis and you will see it grow quite fast.
Tony M

[MotJuste]

Any thoughts on what caused these symptoms?

[Dirt Doctor]

Good job on exposing the flare and the rot damage. The tree will probably do better now but the best move would be to get a new tree and plant it properly. The growth and quality of the new tree will be dramatic. The tree does look like a shumard red oak but the oaks are very promisuous so it's hard to tell until they start growing.

[Mikey]

The root damage is probably from being planted too deep. It does look pretty bad. You could try and salvage it, it is up to you. I notice trees everywhere, even those planted by city crews (who are supposed to know better) that are first of all planted too deep. On top of that problem, they pile mulch around the trunks for some reason??? Mulch on trunks will slowly kill a tree. Good luck!!!