Could use some advise on one of my oak trees

[Automender]

I have several oak tress on my property. This one tree is 50+ feet tall and is part of an original tree line of a property that butted up against my property. The trees are rather close together. I have live here 20 years and bought the property with the trees about five years ago. The tree always has done well over that time of 20 years but the last three years it is showing some stress. It will leaf out great in the spring but around the end of June the leaves start to brown out. During that time the new leaves are green but follow the same path of browning. The other oaks ten feet away are fine.
I have used Bayer Tree and Shrub Systemic insecticide just incase it was a insect issue and also used a 2 inch auger and inserted fertilizer spikes to give it a little boost. I attached a pic of a leaf that fell down. This leaf doesn't seem to be developed like the other trees leaves. The trunk has some new branches and the leaves look fine. Seems like the lower shaded branches are doing better than the very top branches.

 

[Automender]

I don't use and herbicide on the ground or my lawn. I just spot spray maybe ten or twenty weeds in the lawn. I do have a drip irrigation system for the plants in the bed in front of the tree. Not sure if the soil maybe too wet there and the issue came up before I installed the system. I compost my leaves and grass near the tree but that should help and not hurt.

 

[Automender]

OMGosh. I have garden envy.
I don't see a thing wrong there.
Maybe just that time of year they get a little heat stressed?

It seems like all the other oaks are doing fine but develop leaf blisters on them at times. Hate to lose this tree, Tree looks great Last three years the condition happens in late June. We enjoy are space year round day and night

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Gorgeous.
Do you do all the work yourself, or do you have a landscaper to help out?

 

[Automender]

Wife and I do all the work ourselves. New house 20 years ago and blank slate. We did all the stone work and those barnstones and boulders were the hardest without and moving equipment just my lawn tractor.

 

[Automender]

That really is beautiful.
Love the walkway, did you source the rock locally from the property, or did you have to buy it?
Did you begin with a plan, or just make it up as you went along?
Either way, you've created a masterpiece.

The boulders I saved from excavation of the basement, Barnstone was from a local barn but we did have to buy four pallets of field stone which was from Pennsylvania. We are at the end of a ancient glacier so we have all round rocks here and I really liked the rock formations in the Pocono Mountains where I grew up They were more ledge rock in that area.

 

[GusGus2020]

I have several oak tress on my property. This one tree is 50+ feet tall and is part of an original tree line of a property that butted up against my property. The trees are rather close together. I have live here 20 years and bought the property with the trees about five years ago. The tree always has done well over that time of 20 years but the last three years it is showing some stress. It will leaf out great in the spring but around the end of June the leaves start to brown out. During that time the new leaves are green but follow the same path of browning. The other oaks ten feet away are fine.
I have used Bayer Tree and Shrub Systemic insecticide just incase it was a insect issue and also used a 2 inch auger and inserted fertilizer spikes to give it a little boost. I attached a pic of a leaf that fell down. This leaf doesn't seem to be developed like the other trees leaves. The trunk has some new branches and the leaves look fine. Seems like the lower shaded branches are doing better than the very top branches.

Hard to tell exactly from the pictures - higher resolution would help - seems like it could be a leaf miner that’s going to town on the leaves. You could probably take a few samples to the local ag extension if there’s one nearby and see what they say. Tree looks healthy otherwise!

 

[Automender]

Hard to tell exactly from the pictures - higher resolution would help - seems like it could be a leaf miner that’s going to town on the leaves. You could probably take a few samples to the local ag extension if there’s one nearby and see what they say. Tree looks healthy otherwise!

Thanks. It seems like the leaves and tree is growing but as the leaves mature the get spots on them. It seems like the upper leaves of the tree are affected the most. I bored about 15- two inch holes a couple of feet deep with an auger and filled them with Bayers Shrub and Tree systemic insecticide two years ago. The active ingredient is

Imidacloprid 138261-41-3 0.74 Clothianidin 210880-92-5 0.37 Potassium chloride 7447-40-7 1.69 Diammonium hydrogenorthophosphate 7783-28-0 2.28 Glycerine 56-81-5 8.40

This is great stuff that saved a magnolia tree that was infested. Not sure how long it takes to get all the way to the top of the tree.

These pics are from a group of upper leaves that blew off yesterday from a wind storm. Looks like it could be insect damage.

 

[GusGus2020]

Thanks. It seems like the leaves and tree is growing but as the leaves mature the get spots on them. It seems like the upper leaves of the tree are affected the most. I bored about 15- two inch holes a couple of feet deep with an auger and filled them with Bayers Shrub and Tree systemic insecticide two years ago. The active ingredient is

Imidacloprid 138261-41-3 0.74 Clothianidin 210880-92-5 0.37 Potassium chloride 7447-40-7 1.69 Diammonium hydrogenorthophosphate 7783-28-0 2.28 Glycerine 56-81-5 8.40

This is great stuff that saved a magnolia tree that was infested. Not sure how long it takes to get all the way to the top of the tree.

These pics are from a group of upper leaves that blew off yesterday from a wind storm. Looks like it could be insect damage.View attachment 1000416View attachment 1000417View attachment 1000418View attachment 1000419

The insecticide should have gotten through most/all of the tree during one growing season. Hard to know the long-term effectiveness of the compound, though - might require yearly treatments to maintain effectiveness. There are a couple of articles linked below that seem to support the digital diagnosis - granted, they’re from GA, but applicable over most oak species. Look up management for leaf miners and see if there’s anything that’s worth doing - my guess is that it may not be cost effective and some amount of damage may be expected each year, but increase/decrease in a cyclic pattern depending on weather, predator populations, etc.

https://www.forsythnews.com/life/ou...causing-leaf-disfiguration-throughout-county/
https://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/ornamental-trees/oak-leaf-miner/