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Oak trees browning leaves #756401

Asked June 15, 2021, 3:13 PM EDT

I have several white and red oaks that started to brown. Sometimes clumps of these brown leaves drop to the ground, not as individual leaves, but as groups still attached to the twigs. All started this past week.

Montgomery County Maryland

Expert Response

The main injury we see in the photos looks like classic cicada egg-laying damage. They pierce the bark of twigs in a more-or-less dashed line as they lay eggs in the fissures. The eggs alone aren't a threat to the tree (nor are the nymphs which will hatch and drop into soil), but the injury to the twig is what causes the "flagging" - drying/browning foliage, wilt, and breakage. This is a natural form of pruning and doesn't seriously impact a tree's overall health unless a much younger tree had much higher levels of injury. Here, the tree looks like it only has minor damage and it should be fine, especially given its size.

You could trim the broken or withered twig tips off if you can reach them with a pole pruner (or by hiring a tree-trimming company), though it's not necessary would primarily serve just to improve the tree's appearance short-term. Storm winds will eventually snap them off later this year or next, and regrowth will cover-up any bare areas.

Here's more information, including images of egg-laying damage you can compare to twigs on this tree (if reachable):
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/cicadas

https://cicadacrewumd.weebly.com/gallery.html (see the "damage to plants" section)

The darker brown blotches on the leaves in the close-up photo could be caused by several common oak ailments, though none tend to be serious. Anthracnose is a disease often afflicting shade tree foliage in spring (though symptoms can become more noticeable once the weather warms), and can be more prevalent in cool, wet springs since that promotes fungal spread. The oak may also have a type of gall forming on the leaves - it's hard to see clearly - which is also very common and, while occasionally somewhat unsightly, harmless to the tree overall. No treatment intervention is needed or even effective for either issue at this point.
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/anthracnose-diseases-shade-trees

Miri

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