Diseased Tulip Poplars

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

123trees

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
16
Reaction score
6
Location
CT
Hi,

I have a stand of six very tall (maybe 75 ft) Tulip Poplar trees. Several of them have some sort of black fungus or mold on the trunk (see pic). The largest tree appears to be dead – it has a very small number of leaves, but for the most part it is bare (the others have leaves).

Any idea what could have killed it? I want to do what I can to prevent the other trees from dying. They are between my house and powerlines, and several of them lean towards my house…

I have some ACECAP insecticide capsules that I used this year on several oak trees that got decimated by gypsy moths last year. Is there any chance that these capsules might help the Tulip trees?

Thanks in advance for the help!
Andrew
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20180514_192911244_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20180514_192911244_HDR.jpg
    5 MB · Views: 27
  • IMG_20180514_192925989.jpg
    IMG_20180514_192925989.jpg
    5.4 MB · Views: 23
  • IMG_20180514_192945188.jpg
    IMG_20180514_192945188.jpg
    5.4 MB · Views: 26
Sure they're Poplars?
Guys that came out to look at my 10 Trembling Aspens thought they were Poplars but leaves don't lie.
Just what people call all that look alike.
Mine were at least 75 feet tall and way too close to the house so I dropped them.
 
Yeah, the leaves are definitely poplar leaves. So is it not worth trying to treat the trees that currently aren't dead?
 
The other thing that sucks is that the trees are technically on my neighbors property, but it's my house, so I'm pretty sure that I'm on the hook to bring them down if I think they pose a threat to my house.
 
Sure they're Poplars?
Guys that came out to look at my 10 Trembling Aspens thought they were Poplars but leaves don't lie.
Just what people call all that look alike.
Mine were at least 75 feet tall and way too close to the house so I dropped them.
Quaking aspen = Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides = poplar

That particular distinction is akin to saying a red oak isn't an oak because it is not a white oak.

Having said that, Tulip-poplar (yellow-poplar, tuliptree, etc...) is technically NOT a poplar - it is Liriodendron tulipifera. But it is sometimes called "Poplar". It is really not appropriate to call it "poplar" as a tree, but rather tulip-poplar or yellow-poplar (never without the prefix.)

The naming does cause confusion within the lumber industry. For example, a lady called asking to help ID her wood. She said she got a good deal on 10,000 Bd Ft of Poplar. Went to sell it to an associate that made cabinets and was going to buy it for drawer sides and backs. He told her it wasn't poplar. I asked her where she bought it...she said northern Michigan. I told her they were probably both correct. Where aspen is common, the lumber is often called poplar (or popple if you go with some of the local dialect). Where it is not, but Tuliptree is common, that is called poplar lumber. Both would work for drawer sides and backs...

The trees pictured are Liriodendron tulipifera.
 
To the OP: don't use the ACEcaps without knowing what it is. If it is not a bug causing the problem, they won't do any good.

Hard to say from the pics what is going on...and unfortunately, since they aren't yours, probably not much you can do about that. If they were your's I'd suggest hiring a good arborist to ID the pest.

Regarding liability: that is going to be dependent on the state, legal opinion, etc.... In Ohio, if a "reasonable person" recognizes that their trees are posing a danger to somebody else, they can be found responsible if the tree does end up causing damage. A dead tree probably falls into that category...

Have you talked to the neighbor? That would be my first step... Even if they are threatening your property and even if you would be liable, are you allowed to take down a neighbor's tree without their permission? I doubt it...but if they make you liable from damage caused by your neighbor's property, maybe you would be allowed to? that would be an oddity though - what would be to keep somebody from taking down all of their neighbor's trees out of unreasonable fears?

You said they are near the power lines...are these distribution lines or just service drops? If they are distribution lines, perhaps a call to the utility company might get them removed.
 
Quaking aspen = Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides = poplar

That particular distinction is akin to saying a red oak isn't an oak because it is not a white oak.

Having said that, Tulip-poplar (yellow-poplar, tuliptree, etc...) is technically NOT a poplar - it is Liriodendron tulipifera. But it is sometimes called "Poplar". It is really not appropriate to call it "poplar" as a tree, but rather tulip-poplar or yellow-poplar (never without the prefix.)

The naming does cause confusion within the lumber industry. For example, a lady called asking to help ID her wood. She said she got a good deal on 10,000 Bd Ft of Poplar. Went to sell it to an associate that made cabinets and was going to buy it for drawer sides and backs. He told her it wasn't poplar. I asked her where she bought it...she said northern Michigan. I told her they were probably both correct. Where aspen is common, the lumber is often called poplar (or popple if you go with some of the local dialect). Where it is not, but Tuliptree is common, that is called poplar lumber. Both would work for drawer sides and backs...

The trees pictured are Liriodendron tulipifera.

Thanks! I just did a google search for Liriodendron tulipifera, and google showed me a bunch of leaves that look exactly like the leaves from these trees. Any idea what killed the tree that is dead and/or on how I can prevent the others from dying?

I just realized that it's not clear from my pictures, but only the one tree is dead - the others have all of their leaves. The picture where I show the branches without leaves makes it look like all of them don't have leaves, but that's just because the dead one is in front of the others.
 
To the OP: don't use the ACEcaps without knowing what it is. If it is not a bug causing the problem, they won't do any good.

Hard to say from the pics what is going on...and unfortunately, since they aren't yours, probably not much you can do about that. If they were your's I'd suggest hiring a good arborist to ID the pest.

Regarding liability: that is going to be dependent on the state, legal opinion, etc.... In Ohio, if a "reasonable person" recognizes that their trees are posing a danger to somebody else, they can be found responsible if the tree does end up causing damage. A dead tree probably falls into that category...

Have you talked to the neighbor? That would be my first step... Even if they are threatening your property and even if you would be liable, are you allowed to take down a neighbor's tree without their permission? I doubt it...but if they make you liable from damage caused by your neighbor's property, maybe you would be allowed to? that would be an oddity though - what would be to keep somebody from taking down all of their neighbor's trees out of unreasonable fears?

You said they are near the power lines...are these distribution lines or just service drops? If they are distribution lines, perhaps a call to the utility company might get them removed.

Thanks! Looks like we posted at the same time. I am going to talk to my neighbor next (thankfully a really great guy!!! cleared our long driveway with his snowblower after a major storm, without even talking to us - just to be nice. We had to do detective work to figure out who had done it). I wanted to educate myself a little bit ahead of time.

The power lines are service lines, unfortunately. I did a little research - in CT, the power company will only take down trees/limbs near service lines if the trees/limbs are putting pressure on the lines.

Before buying this house, I had NO IDEA how expensive trees could be. Arggh. I guess you live and learn. We have around 8 large trees that would all have the possibility of hitting our house or deck if they fell. Only two are unhealthy though. From talking to friends who have recently taken down trees, it could cost us 2k/tree. Yikes!
 
.....
.... We have around 8 large trees that would all have the possibility of hitting our house or deck if they fell. ....
I'm willing to bet that you also have a vehicle in your driveway that can kill you every time you get it in. Just because there is potential risk, doesn't mean the potential is high. Have the trees reviewed by a professional arborist...not just somebody who removes trees (I already know what their answer is!).

As for cost...that will range drastically based on the circumstances. When people ask me over the phone how much it costs to remove a tree, I'll tell them "between $50 and $5000".
 
I'm willing to bet that you also have a vehicle in your driveway that can kill you every time you get it in. Just because there is potential risk, doesn't mean the potential is high. Have the trees reviewed by a professional arborist...not just somebody who removes trees (I already know what their answer is!).

As for cost...that will range drastically based on the circumstances. When people ask me over the phone how much it costs to remove a tree, I'll tell them "between $50 and $5000".

Haha, very good point. I guess a lot of life is about risk management. Do you know roughly what a consulation with a professional arborist should cost? Also, how do I go about finding a good one? I'm guessing that, like with most professionals, quality of service provided can vary drastically... Thanks for all the help.
 
Neighborhood of $100-150ish for a visit with no written report after.

Look for an arborist at the find an arborist feature at treesaregood.org. search by zip not city name name only returns results with those in that city. Zip code allows you to set a distance parameter.
 
Back
Top