Posthumous Tree Treatment

In a previous post (Click Here to Read It) we showed you that four more Red Oak trees in the shady area by the barn have succumbed to the red oak borers.  They may not be red oak borers, since one infestation map does not include our parish in their current known territory, but it is some type of boring insect that is killing our trees.  Over the past several years those boogers have really done a number on our trees.  I figured it was time to do something about it.  In an effort that illustrates the old saying, “Closing the barn door after the horses have bolted,” I began researching to see what, if anything, I could do to save the remaining red oaks/water oaks on the property.

I stumbled across this site: How to treat oak borers that gave a few steps of what could be done to help control the insects and save the tree.  A few of the trees are past the point of saving.  Like this one in which you can already see a dead branch has fallen at the base of the tree:

And these three, one of which has been dead for a couple of months, while two recently gave up the ghost:

The treatment protocol calls for spraying the bark of the trunk with Permethrin.  I just happened to have some of this on hand.  I mixed up 2 gallons of the recommended mixture in my sprayer.

All around the base of the tree you can see sawdust from where the boring beetle has tunneled into the tree.  Although this tree is dead and beyond saving as you can tell by the dead leaves in the canopy, I still sprayed it along with the 3 other dead trees.

My reasoning is this.  I hope to do my best to kill as many of the borers as I can before they pack their bags and move into neighboring trees.  Obviously I am not equipped to spray the entire tree, but I sprayed what I could get to and hopefully it will help.

I’ll also borrow a chainsaw and cut down the dead trees and split them up for firewood, so it isn’t a total loss, but I’d still rather have the trees alive.  Cutting down the trees is a lot easier said and done, especially this one that leans at a precarious angle over the garden.

I’ll have to use a come-along to pull that one in the direction that I want it to fall as it would be disastrous to have it flatten my fence and garden.

Finally, I sprayed all of the water oak trees in the area with permethrin, including this big one that I would hate to lose:

I’m no arborist and don’t pretend to be one.  I’m just trying to do something to save the trees from additional damage and death.  The only tree that seems to be affected is the red oak/water oak.  Our live oaks and pecans don’t seem to be susceptible to their damage.  Maybe my treatment will take care of the problem and maybe we’ll just stack up lots of firewood.  Only time will tell.  On the bright side, I told Tricia that the pecan trees in the shady area will now be able to branch out with the competition out of the way.