pine trees dying

[Harold9]

I'm losing 25 to 30 foot pine trees. When I pull the stumps out the roots are dryed out. Their are no small roots left. Does anybody know what the cause could be. I had a couple of so called experts look at them and they said it was probably a bug of some kind. They had no suggestions on what to do to solve the problem. Great experts.
Harold

 

[fwf]

Not every expert can solve every problem. Not sure what your problem is but I would be grateful to get experts who were honest enough to admit they didn't have answers instead of trying to sell me a bill of goods.

 

[Treeman14]

I can't help much either, but I would guess that the roots dried out AFTER the trees died and are probably not the cause of the problem. Are you seeing any holes in the trunks, piles of frass (sawdust) at the base, or sap running down the trunk? Do the needles turn yellowish, then brown? Do the needles persist after dying or do they drop immediately? Are the trees that are dying all in one area? Has there been any root disturbance, soil compaction, or construction within the last year or so?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Many people call anything that stays green in the winter a pine, are these really pines, and what kind? Also it will be helpful to know what kind of stand they are growing in, are they in a lumber production type stand, or part of a formal landscape?
To diagnose, the trees you need to look at are those that are just becoming symptomatic. Once a pine under goes some kind of stress, it's very common for secondary pests to move in, like boring insects. This makes figuring out what is wrong hard because your expert comes in and sees a tree all chewed up by insects, but the original problem may be completely unrelated.
The number one killer in landscape trees, has to be environmental problems, like compacted soil, trenching, planting depth, and stuff like that. In forests, it's a different story.
A few pictures would be worth a thousand words.

 

[Harold9]

These are White pines. They are in line with other trees-(White pines - Spruces) on a private lot. The ground has not been disturbed for 20 years or anything planted close to them that I know of. I've seen no sign of insects on the trees except bag worms in the fall and we pick them off as soon as we see them. I spray every fall with Dormant Oil spray in October/November. I don't see any holes in the side of the trees or any sign of dust from borers. The bottom limbs start to turn yellow, then brown then the rest of the tree starts to wilt. I just cut one down that was green 6 weeks ago and the main trunk is dry as if its been dead for over a year. The wood is dosed and had no sap at all. I don't know how the tree sprouted new growth this spring.
Harold

 

[pmuscato]

Maybe lightening. Sometimes there's no sign of a strike.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

If just the White Pines are dying, I'd suspect White Pine Blister Rust.