My 3 oaks have no leaves?

[DRH1175]

I have 3 oaks in my front yard. They are all about 4" in Diameter. Some sort of bug ate most of the leaves? Does anyone know what would do this? I did notice right at dusk earlier this spring a buzzing noise. I say hundreds of be like bugs humming right at dusk in one of the trees but didn't think much of it. Now I notice 90% of the leaves are gone. The ones left have chew marks on them. With part of the leaves gone. I first thought Oak wilt but with no other oaks in the area I looked and discovered the chewing marks. Will this hurt my trees not to have leaves for the remainder of the year? Thanks

[Powerstroke]

Your tree will not be without leaves for the rest of the year. It will get a new flush of leaves soon. Several different problems will defoliate a tree and they are usually very able to put out a second set of leaves.

This second set of leaves takes a lot of energy out of the tree and stresses it out quite a bit. This series of of action and reaction can become a spiral that will kill the tree. Once the new leaves come in I would focus on keeping it watered properly and maybe consider fertilizing. If you notice the bugs returning you can buy insecticides to spray yourself or you can hire someone. The bug season is just starting so if its already been eaten once I would be worried about it happening again. You can't pick a treatment unless you have an idea of what you're competeing against. Try to get a pic of the damage and look for bugs if you get a chance.

[WaveWacker]

As stated earlier, your oaks will get a second flush of leaves but if this continues year after year it will eventually kill the tree. There are chemicals that you can spray if you see "bugs" on the leaves. Seven is the generic brand name that is probably the most popular. Basically you are looking for something with the chemical Carbaryl (sp?) in it and follow the label for tank mixing. I would look on the defoliated trees and neighboring trees now and monitor the affected trees when then refoliate themselves.

[DRH1175]

Thanks. I did notice a mature like 40 footer in the back edge of my 2 acres has the same thing. However not as bad. I will water and watch for the bugs again. I will be ready. Whatever it is it only likes oaks. None of the maples, ash, elm, or birch has had a problem. Thanks

[Powerstroke]

Some bugs are very host-specific. Oaks, ash and locusts tend to be worse.

Personally I would avoid sevin unless you have a borer problem, which I'm pretty sure you don't. Its a very strong chemical. Like I said before, keep an eye on it and try to get proof of what it is if it starts happening again. There are products that do just as good and are much more mild than sevin.