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Heat and drought-stressed trees are susceptible to disease
news
August 2, 2023
Heat and drought-stressed trees are susceptible to disease
By Kelly Bostian Oklahoma Ecology Project,

You’ve watered the lawn, the flowers, and the shrubs and saplings, but have you watered that big tree that provides shade for those pampered parts of your yard?

If not, trouble may be brewing.

“Oftentimes people wait too long before they come to us,” said Sara Wallace, a plant diagnostician with Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension.

“A man yesterday said, ‘They have a little green left on them. Can they be saved?’ Well, no, but when it was the reverse, a little bit of brown and a lot of green, we could have helped.”

Wallace said lately the lab staff at OSU is diagnosing a lot of Hypoxylon disease, which damages tissues in the inner bark and sapwood used by the tree to move water from the soil to the leaves. The fungus that causes the problem is ever-present in trees, especially oaks, but competing fungi usually keep it in check.

“It happens when the tree is stressed,” she said. “If it was an outside pathogen, maybe you could cut off a part of a tree and save it, but when it’s systemic, and the tree is mostly gone, there isn’t much you can do.”

“I talked to a guy yesterday who has six dead oaks and thought it was oak wilt, but we don’t have that in this state. I’m guessing it’s Hypoxylon. We’ve had a lot of that coming to the lab lately.”

She said the sad part is that it’s preventable, and trees can recover when early signs, like browning leaves, are noticed.

During the hot, dry months, the best simple maintenance is deep watering and taking some soil tests to check the ph and soil health. For smaller trees, a layer of mulch can help retain soil moisture. People can turn in soil samples at county extension of-fices, and a $10 fee is all it takes to get a detailed report in a week or two. The report shows the soil pH and recommends actions to take. Information on the process is available online at https://extension.okstate. edu/. Wallace said that deep watering is more than just the typical watering of a lawn or flowerbed for a few minutes each morning.

Sometimes people with lawns on an automated sprinkler system and a beautiful green lawn don’t understand how their big shade trees could possibly be stressed, she said.

“Turf can get 15 minutes a day in the morning on an irrigation schedule, but, especially if there is turf under the tree, the turf just sucks all that up,” she said.

Most people are careful with saplings and smaller trees as they grow, but only some give much thought to watering trees once they mature, she said.

Deep watering means getting water to the tree’s roots, which typically involves soaking the ground thoroughly with a trickle from a hose, even if it’s just once or twice a month.

Wallace said that people often envision trees as having deep tap roots, but most of a tree’s root system spreads horizontally away from the trunk and is 6 to 24 inches deep.

She said the area around the tree, away from the trunk, is where to do the watering. Wallace described the critical area as “what would be in the shade if the sun was directly overhead.”

“Leave the hose on at a slow pace, half-pressure or quarter-pressure, for 30 minutes or an hour and then move it to another spot,” she said.

Younger trees need more water more frequently, she said. Soil type makes a difference as well. Trees in sandy soil will need water more often than those in clay soils.

The needs apply to both evergreens and deciduous trees–and the rules apply year-round, in winter drought, summer drought, and summer’s extreme heat, she said.

The Oklahoma Ecology Project is a nonprofit dedicated to in-depth reporting on Oklahoma’s conservation and environmental issues. Learn more at okecology. org.

Seminole survives Checotah 34-27
B:, sports
Seminole survives Checotah 34-27
By Rodney Haltom sports EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
The Seminole Chieftains were lucky to go home with a 34-27 win over the Checotah Wildcats Friday night. Checotah’s penalties that accumulated to over 100 yards. The Wildcats moved the football up and ...
Council votes to dismiss former Mayor Warren
A: Main, news
Council votes to dismiss former Mayor Warren
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
The Eufaula City Council removed former Mayor Todd Warren from the Council Monday night citing excessive absences. City minutes of past meetings presented to the Council showed that Warren missed the ...
Church celebrates 160th anniversary
A: Main, news
Church celebrates 160th anniversary
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
Decades before Oklahoma became a state in 1907; years before the first railroad track was laid in Indian Territory in 1870 and the year the Civil War ended, folks in a remote area of what is now McInt...
Mild weather, just what the festival ordered
A: Main, news
Mild weather, just what the festival ordered
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
Mayor James Hickman perhaps summarized best when he sent a letter of appreciation to Karen Weldin and the Vision Eufaula Board of Directors for one of the best Wine & Art Festivals held in the city. “...
9/11 – Never Forget
A: Main, news
9/11 – Never Forget
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
At about 7 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I strolled into the Las Vegas Sun newsroom where I worked as an entertainment reporter. The room was quiet, a palpable feeling of dread filled the air as the f...
Margaret Floyd Homecoming Parade Marshal
A: Main, news
Margaret Floyd Homecoming Parade Marshal
September 10, 2025
Margaret Marie Vickery Floyd has been named the 2025 Eufaula High School Homecoming Parade Marshall. Born in 1927 in Ramona, she is the fourth greatgranddaughter of Chief McIntosh, and the mother of f...
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A: Main, news
Ironhead Homecoming Friday
September 10, 2025
The Homecoming Weekend kicks off Friday, Sept.12, with a Pep Assembly at the Eufaula High School Auditorium at 9:30 a.m. followed by a parade at 1 p.m. The coronation of Homecoming Royalty takes place...
New library coordinator challenges Checotah
A: Main, news
New library coordinator challenges Checotah
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and so the new coordinator of Eufaula Memorial Library is taking that opportunity to challenge the Jim Lucas Checotah Public Library to a competition to see wh...
Braddock Dobbs joins School Board
A: Main, news
Braddock Dobbs joins School Board
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
September 10, 2025
Braddock Dobbs, 31, son of the late Margaret Dobbs, who was on the Eufaula School Board for 15 years, is following in his mother’s footsteps. Monday night, Aug. 8, at its monthly meeting, the Board ap...
Drillers honor Eufaula veteran
news
Drillers honor Eufaula veteran
September 10, 2025
Former Army Sp4 Timothy Pickering of Eufaula was honored recently at the Driller Stadium in Tulsa as a “Hometown Hero,” a program that honors people who have had a lasting impact on the community. Pic...
news
Flea Pop-Up Market
September 10, 2025
Friday – Sunday, Sept.12-14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 210 N. Main St. Booth rental available. Call Mr. Printer at 918-689-5998, Jani at 918-839-8494 or Ricky at 918-424-9961. Prices for all three days: ...
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