Help...my tree is dying!

mavic747

Hi everyone. I'm from Southern California, USA. It's always sunny here, without much rain. My plum tree is old, about 15+ years old. It produced so many plums last year. But after the last winter, I found that one of the major branches stopped producing new leaves. And I found the traces of termites. I understand that termites don't eat from live trees, so there were some other reasons that killed my branch. Now I'm worried about the whole tree will die soon for the same unknown reason. May be insects? Here are some pictures of the tree:












Any idea what caused it? And the treatments? Thanks everyone!

TrevMcRev

Hi

Your climate is similar to Melbourne and they are a common garden tree here, often found in similar condition.

I'd say your tree is nearing the end of its useful life.

A combination of severe & incorrect "pruning" will have helped shorten that.

The decay you see is a result of the previous "topping" and "flush cuts" on the main stem where large branches have been removed.

Lack of water hasn't done it any favours either.

There are no real treatments for the decay as such.

As the tree appears to be not large enough to really be considered a hazard, you could hang on to it, and maybe extend it's life with soil improvements, mulching the root zone out to the dripline, and additional irrigation.

I'd think about getting a replacement tree underway now, and educate yourself on correct pruning practices (lots of free info here) or hire a professional arborist to do the pruning.

Trev

mavic747

Thanks for you answer! Can you tell me a bit more about soil improvements? What can I do now to improve the tree soil? Sorry I'm a tree newbie...