pine tree pruning&apricot tree care

[Steveu]

I just bought this house. I have an old pine tree that has alot of dead pineneedles that have fel off the branches and are on the ground and lower branches. What would cause this? And there is alot of dead limbs , when is the best time to prune them, and should I thin out this tree.
Now for the apricot tree. this looks to be an older tree also. It is loaded but the fruit isnt growing and is dry in side. how do i get water down to the roots? Ive been watering every bay at the base, this dont help. Sould I pick some of the fruit so the branches arnt so weighted down.

 

[treeclimber165]

Most Pine trees spit pine needles all year long. Dead limbs should be removed, but pines tend to bleed a lot of sap from cuts made on green wood. Thinning would not be high on my priority list for most pines, as it will cause more harm than good.
As for the fruit tree, keep in mind that the feeder roots are spread out from the trunk to the edge of the canopy of the tree and beyond. Most are near the dripline. Watering at the base of a large tree isn't going to do much good. Picking some of the underdeveloped fruit so the tree can concentrate on the remaining can help too.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

If the tips of the branches (terminal buds) look good, nad the needls are mostly green, then the stuff on the ground is seasonal needle cast as old 165 said. Look for pitching out on twigs and trunk, the less there is the better off the tree is. If tips are brown and or there is a lot of pitch on the bark call an arborist to examine it.

Most trees in the roase family do not like alot of water. I recomend doing it every other week if no significant rain. Hand thinning the fruit is a very good idea for plant health and as 165 said,bigger fruit.

 

[Steveu]

Thanks for the advice. There is some branches on the pine tree that are some what dry, when I run the needles through my hand they fall off. That is why I was wondering about thining. This tree could be 100 years old as my house is that old and there several houses with pine trees on this street. there is 5 to 6 inches of pine needles on the ground. Im afraid im going to lose this tree. But I might be making A big deal out of nothing. I don't know what you meen by pitching out.

Steve u

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Pitching out is a crusting or oozing of pitch or sap from the tree. A response to a wound made by a boring insect or a disease canker.

Broun branch tips with a crust indicate a shoot or twig borer. Pitching under branches on the trunck indicate a trunk borer. The former is more treatable then the later, and a fungal needle blight is even easier to treat.