Have to rant a little bit.

My house was built in 2016 and I moved in about 4 years ago. Typical DFW subdivision that they are building over and over everywhere... little boxes all the same. After clear cutting every native tree in the whole neighborhood, the landscapers stuck two live oak trees in my front lawn and called it a day. So one of my trees is looking pretty good. It's 8 years old now and filling in nicely. The other tree is stunted. Has not grown in the 4 years I've lived here. I know this because I trimmed it a few months after moving in, and haven't had to touch it since. Over the years I've maintained a pretty liberal watering schedule, fertilized, added root stimulant... everything I could come up with to help a tree grow, but to no effect.

Well, I think I finally figured out the problem. I knocked out the brick ring flower beds around the trees and added sod. As a part of this process, I cut out the sprinkler tree bubbler heads in the beds and replaced them with a drip line around the tree. When the idiots installed my sprinkler system, they double wrapped the hose with the bubbler head around the baby tree that was stunted. Right under the soil line the trunk of the tree had actually grown over the water line. What you can see above ground level looks normal, but the trunk under that line had bulbed up where it has been trying to grow. In fact, there is about a 5" section that I just had to cut away because it is totally imbedded in the trunk now.

It's sort of a relief because that tree has had me scratching my head for years. Hopefully it can recover and finally give me some shade to go along with the acorns.


Addendum:
Shout out and special thanks to Bruce for helping me out with the sprinkler repairs. System is running perfectly now. Love to buy you a beer or 3 soon, partner!

glad you were able to save it
way to go

Keep in mind that I hate trees. And in most residential settings they are a nightmare. It's the same deal here. 2 live oaks or Cedar Elms and call it a day. That said. I can't stand the mulch volcano they put around trees. Where did this come from? Most landscapers do it and it's the worst practice. If you want to have a tree like an Oak do not build a flowerbed around it and make sure the root flare is exposed. Sickening how these new developments plant 2 Live Oaks 10 feet apart. If I was in one and not HOA that requires it, it's the first thing I'm cutting down.

Agreed! Two are required in any new home builds here. I told my builder to just stick them in the ground enough to pass city inspection because I’d be taking them out day one. He did, and I did.

I have a pecan tree that was planted in 2013. It was 6 feet tall or then.after 11 years it is around 18 or so feet tall. It has never made a pecan and now looks like it may be dying. It is the front of the house. In the back we have 11 oak tree and 2 pecan trees between the house and the lake. One pecan tree is close to 40 feet and has made pecans 2 years out of the 12 we have lived here. The other is probably 25 foot tall and has never made a pecan. How can I make the pecan tree bear nuts?