Hi all, I am a new home owner and discovered metallic wood borers (not sure about the exact species) in my oak tree. Last year, half the canopy didn’t have leaves and this year even less. I’d love to save the tree if I can! Appreciate all the help I can get.
by empathytune
8 Comments
I’m sorry, but looking at the half-a-tree, it’s already too late to save this tree. Remove it, prep the soil, and plant a new tree nearby.
Almost positive that thing is totally done for
She gone
Outside of the genus Agrillus, most of those metallic wood boring beetles (jewel beetles, buprestids) feed on dead or dying wood and do not harm healthy trees. It’s unlikely the borers are causing the problem.
Too late.
Thank you all for the advice. 🙏 It’s sad but I will take the tree down. Do you guys have any suggestions for fast growing shade trees resistant to borers in north Texas? 8B. I’d prefer fruit trees but looks like a Chinese Pistache is the best option based on my research. Online advice says smaller trees establish better over longer term so I’m thinking 5 gallon.
Look up proper planting techniques before replacing. Don’t count on landscapers to know what they’re doing or selling.
As close as that appears to be to homes (yours, and possibly others), IMO your primary consideration should be to find a tree that isn’t going to damage your foundations, and that has little or nothing to do with size. So for example willows and birches can have highly invasive roots that travel a long way beyond the tree canopy. Conversely, oaks put down very _deep_ roots and can be planted close to a building but do no damage to the foundations.
I personally own two rental houses about 20ft apart, with a _massive_ oak tree on the property line and no more than about 20ft from each house. The tree is about 90 ft tall, and about that wide, so most of both houses is under the tree canopy, but the foundations are just fine.
Obviously after that, you want a tree that is beetle resistant, and big enough to provide useful shade.