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To reduce the spead of oak wilt the dnr suggests pruning oaks after July. If pruning after july wont bugs be attracted to the wounds?
To avoid oak wilt disease DO NOT prune oaks from April to October. If oaks are wounded or must be pruned during these months, apply wound dressing or latex paint to mask the odor of freshly cut wood so the beetles that spread oak wilt will not be attracted to the trees.
I've lost a couple of nice oaks in my yard. Drop Tine's advice is good. I usually don't prune after between April and October. It can also be spread by root graphing when trees are close together. That is why when one dies the trees close to it may go too.
March is a pretty good month to do the pruning on most trees.
If an Oak must be pruned in the spring when bugs are out, IMMEDIATELY COVER THE WOUND.
I will not prune April until leaves drop. Good all around advice.
Just watch out for summer storms breaking oak branches. Only so much you can do.
Do not move Oak firewood.
Treefarm, what do you suggest using to dress the wound.
I am renting a lift next month to cut some widow makers around the house, still to much snow on the ground. oak wilt is rampet around my home. Beautiful 2 foot round oak dying away everywhere. No roots left and a good wind blows them over.
We have very little oak wilt around me, but I heard today that every Wl. county now is quarantined for ash. There were 45 counties quarantined, but they decided to make the whole state quarantined now. Our county (Washburn County) has so far been free of the emerald ash borer.
Xtroux, any barrier. Cheap paint, rubberized undercoating, commercial wood wound dressing.
When picnic beetles are out, you actually need to apply dressing to wound immediately.
Most importantly, make proper cuts when pruning so tree heals quickly (no stumps, no cutting collar).
No collar? Does that mean cut branch off right next to main trunk? Thanks for the info, I need to do alittle research on how to prune, but you sure seem to know your stuff. Any info will help.....Thanks again.
Xtrout, "do not cut into the collar". This is the part needed to mend over and heal the cot surface.
Thanks. I'll wait till the fall now.
There is some good info & a video on Oak Wilt on the DNR home page right now.
I will be planting 200 red oak this spring in a area that was logged out 2 years ago. Just found out that land owner on the other side of bluff is logging his land out because of severe oak wilt. If the oak wilt is in the area will this affect my planted seedlings? I have noticed a few older damaged oak dead on my property but overall not bad. Hate to go through all the work and costs (tree guards, stakes) if the oak wilt will have a affect on my planted trees.
WIBuck, what you are doing is a GOOD THING as it is starting more oaks and when they mature, hopefully the oakvwilt will have declined.
Try to plant the oaks where they are surrounded by brush to keep deer browsing minimized. You will need full sun to be successful. I would plant sugar maple too, just to diversify if you don't have it already there.
I am personally more worried about Gypsy Moths at this point. Red Oak is their preferred.
All these diseases and pests...most imported!!! General rule, DON'T MOVE WOOD outside your property.
WIBuck, if that area was logged two years ago, isn't it choked full of aspen now? If so, I think your new oaks will have a hard time getting started and thriving. I've been through this on my property, and the only way I can make it work is to cut small areas at a time, and then go back in during the first several years and clear the aspen and red maple away from the oak. In my case, at least I don't have to plant red oak because lots of it comes up on its own, and it's just a matter of cutting down the ones I don't want.
Thanks guys for your replies. I have approximately a 6 acre pocket that was logged and I went through this winter and completely clear cut it. It is going to be a nightmare getting through the tops and brush but needed to get more sunlight. I purchased 100 used 5ft tree tubes and will purchase 100 more new 6 ft tubes staked by 6 ft steel fence posts( yea I know overkill but I have a lot of them from tearing apart my old pasture fences). My son and his hunting friend and hopefully my wife are on call when time comes. This area is right on the edge of a 650 acre parcel that is hunted by 3 hunters. To say that there are deer there is a real understatement, and without the tubes a complete waste of time. Sure glad to hear the oak wilt should not effect my new trees.
I selective cut 10 acres of red oak 4 years ago and within 1 year all remaining red oaks died from oak wilt. In hindsight I should've sold them all. Stuff is wicked around Grantsburg. Amazing how the maples have shot up though once the oak canopy was gone! I've been filling in the voids with white pines (they grow fast) and norway spruce (which aren't growing hardly at all).
I am very pro logging but at the rate diseases are spreading I doubt it's because of firewood burners.
Price Co Hunter just the opposite here in Tremp cty. Out of all the stumps in this 6 acre area I seen maybe 3 small red oak coming along, they just don't regrow around here. Really no problem with aspen either more so elm and in my woods hickory or just junk. One thing that did grow however is the fricken plants with the little black sticky things that make you have to decide if you want to clean your cloths off by hand or just throw them away. Went with short sleeves last fall to set up a stand and had to use a razor to shave my arm hair off. Don't know if they are good for anything but I have a abundance of them.
WIBUCK that sounds like black cherry. The black sticky stuff is sap.
GoJakes I had a brain freeze and could not think of stick tights. Anyone know if they have any value to wildlife? Deer and bear don't seem to mind them as I see them covered with them.
Discoloration due to hardware
Discoloration due to hardware
Culprit from 60 years ago.
Culprit from 60 years ago.
I pruned an oak Sunday. Probably pruned a bit too close to the ground. I will go back and cover the wound with paint.
Anyway, it was an oak along an old boundary so there was likelihood of hardware. It was suitable for firewood as it was damaged during a recent logging operation.
As you can see, the interior of the bolt was discolored due to old fencing practice. This damage would have downgraded the value to solid fuel. What it does show is how a potential veneer bolt was ruined. I don't allow screw-in tree steps as they too cause discoloration and vector for insect ingress. If you must use screw-in steps, on private property (as they are not legal on State/County/Federal lands) please use them in non-value trees. And by all means, remove them so they don't grow into tree. High-speed band mills and grown-in tree steps are extremely dangerous if hardware is missed.
Treefarm, when do you have to start really being careful about oak wilt? I've heard once the snow is gone and ground starts to thaw?
Rookie- dnr claims april-july are peak periods
That's correct. In the north, I would recommend waiting a while longer. I would also factor in unusually early or late spring.
Yeah I know they say April .... but when we have 20" of snow still in the woods I figure it's still safe to cut?
Rookie, I play it safe and only cut Oak during dormancy. You want to make sure a branch doesn't weep where beetle are attracted to the wound. Even cuts now can weep when beetle become active. So, the general guideline is a minimimum if you ask me. Play it safe.
Temperature above 60 degrees for 7 consecutive days. DNR guidance on when to start oak wilt precautions.