Frequently Asked Questions

"We recently purchased property that has quite a few scrub oak trees. Last year these trees were full of leaves. However, this year we've noticed that many of our scrub oak trees have not shown any leaves. Adjacent properties have the same issue. We've also noticed that many of the scrub oaks in Wasatch and Summit counties have not yet produced leaves? Is the drought causing this or are there other factors? Our property does not have irrigation access."

Many trees and shrubs are suffering from late frosts we've had this year in northern Utah. Even cold-hardy plants have been frozen back. Past years' droughts usually don't matter in terms of their effects on this year's foliage so early in the year, as long as you currently have adequate moisture. If it's currently very dry then it could be drought, though the trees would have leaf-out and then later shown signs of drought injury. There also are a number of pests that can cause shoot dieback or temporary defoliation of Gambel oak; go to http://web2.ad.ext.usu.edu/drought/htm/publications/publication=5775