I live between Blanco & Wimberley, and oak wilt is making its appearance here in this area. I'm a "critter sitter" and one of my clients who lives just S of Hwy 290 had to trench 100' out all the way around the infected areas. They live on 100 acres, which just happens to border one of the ranches on the N side of our "neighborhood"... a fellow master gardener lives there (it borders her ranch) and I've told her about it so she can be on the lookout.
Yesterday was my baby's 15th b-day and one of her friends told me they just discovered oak wilt on their ranch, and had to do the 100' trench. THEY live west of Blanco on 1888 (the road to Luckenbach).
When pruning oaks, be sure to paint the wound (any paint will work). Oak wilt can kill a red oak in 6 months and a live oak in 12.
When clearing your ranch, yard,etc, DON'T cut everything down! I "specialty" cut. We have lots of Tx persimmons, flame leaf sumacs, black walnuts, LOTS of red buds, evergreen sumacs, and of course cedar. We have some very big oaks...but even if (pray not) oak wilt hits here, our property won't be totally devoid of trees. I've seen some ranches around here with nothing but oaks. Looks beautiful now but if oak wilt hits, there goes a lot...including the value of the land. Not many people are crazy about property with NO trees!
I just wanted to share this info w/ y'all, especially for those of you who live up here in the hill country.
BEWARE OAK WILT !!!
I read, I think it was on the A&M website, that due to the risk of infection by oak wilt, that no oak should be pruned or cut on other than in January and Feburary. I've lost two large ash trees in the three years I've been in my home. They had lived well past their expected life spans and were in such poor condition that I felt I had to remove them or risk large limbs through the roof. We have two live oaks, but they're only about 6" diameter tress. The lady who owned this home before me was definitely not a gardener. Every tree on the property was pruned like the "crew cut" crepe myrtles. I've been working on the remaining oaks a little each spring trying to get them back in some semblance of shape and balance, but don't know if it'll ever happen since she tip pruned almost every limb on them. I am sticking to the Jan, Feb only pruning though.
Thanks for all the info!
I've seen people get hold of a chainsaw and it goes to their heads (not literally I hope). It's a power thing. But once the larger oaks are gone (from oak wilt), not many people could afford to replace them with trees of similar size. Here the neighborhood association hires someone to keep trees and brush cut back from the road, and he doesn't care what time of year it is nor does he paint anything. I keep expecting oak wilt to appear on the trees he trims.
I'm so glad that we did a little research this year before pruning our Red Oaks. They are about 4 years old and need a lot of lower branches cut but we really didn't notice it until this Spring. I read tho that because of Oak Wilt we shouldn't prune until they are dormant so we didn't.
I'm glad we made the right decision and now I have definite proof to give to the neighbor that tells me we need to prune them! He got a new job working for the city and is a little over-zealous about pruning. By the looks of the Crepe Myrtles (that were Crepe Murdered) at my son's school it's apparently something they teach you on your first day.
LindaTX8, You may want to approach your neighborhood assoc. about his pruning tactics. Oak wilt is extremely serious and if there is any way to prevent, or slow down, the spread, it should be used. Just look at your property and the others around you and picture them w/ no oaks. They really make a difference!!
Here's a link with really good info on oak wilt. http://texasoakwilt.org/
The no-prune rule for warm weather is because of the beetles that also spread the disease. Any time the weather is warm, the beetles could be active. Of course, pruning out dead wood is okay as there is no sap to attract the beetles.
Our home is in the edge of town and our 1 1/2 acres is covered with live oaks and a few Spanish oaks. Some trees were showing sign of oak wilt two years ago, and we treated with Alamo, a fungicide that is delivered in IV fashion. It was expensive and time-consuming for DH, but all that took up their dose have survived and are looking okay. Since then the patent on Alamo has expired and the price has come down, and there is a generic available as well. Our ranch is west of town about ten miles, and so far there is no oak wilt in the area.