Large pine turning brown

[wysiwyg]

Around the middle of November I noticed that a large pine (Austrian, I think) in our front yard was beginning to turn brown. Ever since the browning has accelerated and today I noticed it's shedding needles onto the snow. It had its normal needle drop in October, and this started after that. The top 1/4 of the tree is still green, but every branch below that has significant browning. Any ideas?

 

[Adkpk]

That tree is definitly in trouble. I would get in touch with your cooperative extension. Looked it up for you on google. http://www.uwex.edu/ces/
Send them a twig and they will identify your problem with that tree.

 

[wysiwyg]

Thanks!

I forgot to mention that the back side of this tree is already dead, due to shade from other trees. But that's been the case for over 7 years and the offending trees were removed a couple years ago. I was planning long term to remove the tree (notice the little norway spruce in the first photo) because of this situation. It's a pretty ugly tree if you look at it from any angle other than the one in the photo. There is an emotional attachment factor in play here for the short term, but if this condition keeps getting worse, that can be over come (Read: I'm looking for an excuse to get rid of it). Besides, I'm itching to try out my new saw :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Adkpk]

Sayanara, austrian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:greenchainsaw:

 

[osb_mail]

my guess would be

Diplodia tip blight this very common in Austrian pine that are 15 to 20 years old . Would some correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Ekka]

Frost bite? lol

 

[Dixie1]

any salt put out for the snow and ice? doesn't diplodia usually flair up in late spring/early summer?

 

[Adkpk]

Timber!

Long live the spruce.

 

[wysiwyg]

Salt is definitely not a factor.

I googled diplodia and gather it only causes symptoms during the growing season...this started well after (November).

 

[osb_mail]

salt??

I don t think salt damage would be showing this early. Austrain pine really just seem to have a lot problems I think they also get bark beetles .

 

[Rtom45]

Could be diplodia (which I think has been renamed), or a similar disease. Although many symptoms are most obvious during the early growing season, what you are seeing is the cumulative affect. I believe the tree is done and should be cut down.

 

[(WLL)]

diplodia

are some needles blue/greyish diplodia kills from bottom up can be mannaged by injections 2 the vasscular system

 

[changetires]

Check to see if there are bore holes in the bark of the tree. I to believe it may be a bark beetle.

 

[wysiwyg]

The tree is now history but I took a few photos that hopefully will help with the diagnosis. The first is of the trunk about 4/5 of the way to the top. The second is of the trunk about half way up, and the last is a closeup of a typical browning branch tip.

I've always assumed that holes in the trunk that are lined up are due to sap sucking birds. But I noticed that even at the very bottom of the tree, there are randomly placed (but sporadic) holes. The only part of the trunk that didn't appear to have any holes was the very top 20% of the trunk, which coincided with the only part of the tree that still had dense green foliage.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The first thing I would look at is planting depth. I have seen girdling roots on pines cause them to just die like this. Do you have a picture of the stump?
The tree will hang on as long as it can and then suddenly dies, or the stress attracts bores that finish it off.

 

[wysiwyg]

The tree was planted as a seedling 30-35 years ago. The soil was mounded up around the trunk about 5 inches high, which I removed yesterday to level it off with the rest of the lawn. I encountered a few small diameter roots that looked to be circling the stump. There were also thicker, dead roots that may have been wrapping around the trunk, but they were so decayed that I couldn't tell if they were from this tree or a nearby tree that was removed a few years ago.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

The tree was planted as a seedling 30-35 years ago. The soil was mounded up around the trunk about 5 inches high, which I removed yesterday to level it off with the rest of the lawn. I encountered a few small diameter roots that looked to be circling the stump. There were also thicker, dead roots that may have been wrapping around the trunk, but they were so decayed that I couldn't tell if they were from this tree or a nearby tree that was removed a few years ago.

At first, I was wondering if it was a white pine, but see from the extra photos, that's not so.

Any brushkiller or weed killer ever get sprayed in the area before? (past years?)

 

[wysiwyg]

Every year I spray Roundup on the weeds growing below the tree. But it couldn't be more than 1 diluted oz per year.