Concerns of a Pine Tree

reidtim

Hello, I am writing in to help see if I can find some advice or answers concerning a Pine tree on my property. To me it doesn't look like its doing very well. Its seems to only have green at the very tips of branches and the center of the tree is bare. If anyone can advise on this to whether it looks ok or is sick. I will attach some pictures.







Thanks Tim

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Eric Frei

Pretty normal for pines to be bare and full of dead wood and sticks etc in the interior.

What is it like compared to others?

Exactly what species of pine is it? Looks to me like slash pine and they only have tufts of foliage on the ends.

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Muggs

You have an Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra) that appears to be infested with the European Pine Sawfly. The larvae (caterpillars) eat the needles, leaving those red/orange ends. There are insecticide sprays available but they are not always practical with larger trees. I would focus on increasing the health and vigour of the tree to make it less susceptible to the effects of the sawflies. I would mulch around the dripline, make sure it gets lots of water, and look into deep-root fertilizing. A strong, healthy tree is much less likely to be so negatively affected by any bug as a tree that is already stressed. Good luck.

treevet

[QUOTE=Muggs;65351]

Pine sawfly would be apparent now and fully mature. They eat the new growth and, although they are camouflaged, they are very obvious in groups of larvae as they bend outward in unison when they feed. There is NO indication of them on these pictures. You are right in that Austrians are a host specific choice, and they can do much damage....just no evidence this is the problem with this tree.


We have stopped treating all ills with fertilizer as it can cause more problems than it was suspected to correct.

We have stopped referring to the treatment as "deep root fertilization" as new studies have found that roots are not deep....so why put the fertilizer there?

Let's see the base of the tree and have a little history of the environment and weather and maybe we can come up with the reason why you can see through the canopy so easily. My guess would be Diplodia in the past. No one plants this tree in our area anymore because of this infection.

Eric Frei

Interesting.

Diplodia Blight of Pines FIDL Diplodia pinea

Diplodia Tip Blight Factsheet

But it doesn't really look like that either to me.?


Austrian pine shoot with early symptoms of diplodia blight; one very short needle with resin droplet

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treevet

They may have it one year with wet springs and the next year not with a not so wet spring. It knocks down the health of the tree for years any year they get it and, around here, they get it more years than not.