Hi,

I’d like your thoughts on how to deal with some wilting problem I’m having with two young Northern Red Oak trees.  I donated, planted and have cared for the two oak trees at our nearby park in Roseville.  We planted the two 8’ tall trees in early May 2014.  

They performed fine through the summer and fall, however this year – almost immediately after forming leaves, the leaves began “crumbling” or wilting.  They’ve remained very light green, but have wilted to the point that most leave are barely identifiable as oak leaves with lobes.

Tree #1 is on the south side of a wetlands, in a grassy area (not close to the actual wetland, seasonal pond) and receives full sun for the majority of mid-morning until late afternoon.  Tree #2 is on the north side of the wetland (again, far above the actual wet area) and is partially shaded by larger trees but still receives decent filtered sunlight.  I mulched around both trees and have watered them throughout the growing seasons– approximately (2) 5-gallon pails of rainwater about 1x to 1.25 times per week.  I put down some tree/bush fertilizer on Memorial Day this year – but that’s it for fertilizer.  I put some root starter in the water a year ago on one occasion.

I checked tonight and the leaves seem to be getting even worse – more crumpled and darker.  The leaves have signs of some bugs eating them – but not excessively.  One of the attached photos shows an insect on a leaf, however, I’ve not seen other insects.  The leaves at the top of the north tree seem to be best holding their shape – most others are wilting.

I noticed some peeling flaking on the underside of stalks – not sure if this is normal – please see attached photos.

I’d appreciate your thoughts/recommendations!  It’s so sad to think of losing these beautifu, young trees – and they seem to be getting worse.

Thanks!

Pete