Pests

Two diseases that affect the red oak tree are oak wilt and oak decline. Oak wilt is caused by a fungus and in the eastern U.S. it kills thousands of red oak trees whether they be in forests or cities. The oak wilt fungus can be carried from tree to tree by insects or connect through root systems. Oak decline is a much slower tree disease that can take up to five years to kill a tree. It is not just one disease but really a combination of several different stresses on a tree such as drought, fungi, boring insects or late frosts in the spring. The biggest pest for a red oak tree is the red oak borer, but it does not kill the tree. It is the borer’s larvae that first damages the tree by burrowing into crevices in the bark.