The mistake people make with oak tree pruning in summer

I keep seeing videos online where people are trimming oak trees in July and August. That's exactly when oak wilt spreads the fastest through open wounds. I learned this the hard way when I lost three big oaks on a job near Austin after I trimmed them in August. Now I only prune oaks from November through February and seal cuts right away. Has anyone else had oak wilt issues from trimming at the wrong time?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscar74321d ago

I heard the same thing from a tree service guy here in Dallas.

abbyg6021d ago

Got a friend in Austin who lost three live oaks last summer because of one bad trim. His neighbor's tree got pruned in June and by fall every tree on that side of the street was infected. Arborist told him it was a classic summer spread from an open wound.

reese12421d ago

Saw a Texas A&M extension article about this. Said one open wound in summer can infect a whole stand. Lost a big one in my neighbor's yard here in Houston the same way.