This young live oak started suffering about 2 years ago. I fed it, better exposed the root flares, babied it .... then found the true problem last summer; gophers! They (he? she?) had chewed the roots which caused various limbs to die. That gave us the impetus to take care of our extensive gopher problem (that's a whole 'nother story). Now, what do I do to help this tree survive? The upper 3/4 of the tree limbs are dead (covered in lichens). There are leaves on only the bottom-most limbs, plus suckers coming up on the lower trunk. Should I cut off the dead limbs, or leave them in place? Will this tree be forever deformed? (which won't bother me, I'm happy to take every bit of shade and visual screening I can get.) But will its health be compromised?
Thanks for your advice. BTW we are in central TX, near Smithville.
| Attachments: |
|
tree.jpg [ 117.15 KiB | Viewed 11284 times ] |