Please help...

[DC-STRO]

I have this pine tree in my yard...At a glance it looks ok...However at a closed look the branches in the middle seem to be dieing through out the tree.
Any thoughts...?

 

[MasterBlaster]

That is a beautiful tree that just needs a 'lil deadwooding/selective pruning to bring out it's absolute potential.

IMO.

 

[treeseer]

at a close look the branches in the middle seem to be dieing through out the tree.
Any thoughts...?

I think it's shade causing interior branchlets to die. Big tree in small place. Try paclobutrazol?

Light reduction cuts or "tip pruning" may get enough light in to keep it green inside. Maas, yes here I am again prescribing an overall crown reduction, 5-10%. Done from the ground with an extension pole pruner (or bucket). what do you prescribe?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Haha.

 

[DC-STRO]

at a close look the branches in the middle seem to be dieing through out the tree.
Any thoughts...?

I think it's shade causing interior branchlets to die. Big tree in small place. Try paclobutrazol?

Light reduction cuts or "tip pruning" may get enough light in to keep it green inside. Maas, yes here I am again prescribing an overall crown reduction, 5-10%. Done from the ground with an extension pole pruner (or bucket). what do you prescribe?

Is the damage permanent..? Will the dead areas grow back..?...Any links to the fix...? I am not sure on exactly what to do.

 

[Stumper]

Death of interior smallwood on a conifer is normal. It won't grow back-the tree will continue to make needles on the branch tips. This is the way trees normally grow.-

A little reduction is appropriate due to the encroachment onto the driveway and it will help to develop thicker growth near the branch tips-creating the illusion of solidity while slowing the spread into the driveway. :angel:

 

[Ekka]

DC STRO

Most pines with a crown that dense on the outside would tend to have little if any foliage on the inside.

If the branches were dying you would find the needles on the tips dying and falling off to.

I would be reluctant to tip prune a pine, what you'll gain in the short term would soon be lost and possibly even outgrown as a result of tip pruning. It will get thicker and more dense. Unless you want to make a rod for your own back and regularly tip prune.

The clearance for the driveway will be a sensative issue as crown lifting is not the option and reducing the branches in length will put you closer to that dead looking non sprouting zone as well as imbalance the tree.

You may be able to tip prune that area with shears and blend it to the rest of the tree but you will have to keep it maintained. If you let the branches grow to far that dead looking non sprouting zone may grow over the driveway and eventually you will be cutting into it and looking at an ugly part of the tree.

Here's some links for you. The last one talks about the dead zone around page 4.

http://ag.udel.edu/extension/information/hyg/hyg-73.htm

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07205.html

http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Resources/PDFs/BUL0644.pdf

Have fun

 

[treeseer]

Ekka it looks like you're using these ??'s as a chance to do research for you rown benefit, and practice helping your clients. Pretty shmart; good on ya mate!

I agree with the others, mostly. mb has a good point, if it weren't for the obstructions, simple deadwooding alone would make that a fine tree.

I would be reluctant to tip prune a pine, what you'll gain in the short term would soon be lost and possibly even outgrown as a result of tip pruning. It will get thicker and more dense.
The clearance for the driveway will be a sensative issue...
You may be able to tip prune that area with shears and blend it to the rest of the tree but you will have to keep it maintained.

Ekka when pines in my area get to be that age they do not bush out from cuts, so tip pruning does not lead to hi-mtc, like shearing does. I don't know this species--wish the owner would tell us what it is. Your idea of shearing near the driveway also does not jibe with info from your 2nd link, which calls for tip pruning and advises against shearing.:

"

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

First off, it's not a Pine, it's a Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce is my guess. And the poster is from Minnesota, outside the native habitat for this tree.
Like here in SE Wisconsin, Colorado Spruce are subject to a number of diseases and although they do well when they are young, they fall victum to a number of problems just about the time they get this size, almost the worst of which is Cytospera canker, which I don't see signs of yet.
Another problem is Rhizosphaera which could very well be the problem you see.
Suprisingly, the worst disease I see of spruce is not fungal or insect, it's planting a big tree in a small spot. The poster's tree definately has this.

 

[DC-STRO]

Thanks for all of your help....You are correct...Big tree in a small space.
However when I planted it 20 years ago...I did not think it was a problem.
I have 4 more trees in my yard that were planted at the same time, but this is the only one that seems to have a problem....

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[Ekka]

Ekka it looks like you're using these ??'s as a chance to do research for you rown benefit, and practice helping your clients. Pretty shmart; good on ya mate!

I agree with the others, mostly. mb has a good point, if it weren't for the obstructions, simple deadwooding alone would make that a fine tree.

Ekka when pines in my area get to be that age they do not bush out from cuts, so tip pruning does not lead to hi-mtc, like shearing does. I don't know this species--wish the owner would tell us what it is. Your idea of shearing near the driveway also does not jibe with info from your 2nd link, which calls for tip pruning and advises against shearing.:

"

Yeah, I like to get involved here, I don't get much of an opportunity in the real world here. I even have a go at ID of things I've never seen.

The reason why I said use shears was to get clean cuts (unlike a chainsaw) and speed things up a bit. I reckon if you pick your mark well on how much to cut you'll get pretty close to that target and have it off in no time.

In that second link it resembles the diagram up the top which is less strategically important for the cut than the others.

Plus, he will have to come back to the edge of the driveway anyway so sometimes you need to bend the rules as a target cut may not give him the required clearance ... we get this a lot cypresses and sometimes they get a little "bald" if not able to bush up a bit, being a relatively small area it wouldn't take much to keep it in check.

The same link also did say you could shear if looking for a formal look or shaping.

Anyway, it's up to him, there's the info and do what suits you.

 

[Tree Wizard]

Mike - you are 100% correct - that is not a pine but a Colorado spruce, Picea pungens. The most common problem in SE WI with Co spruce is being planted in too small of a space (they are so cute when they are little), after that comes cystosper canker, generally triggered by drought stress.

Pictures look like branch death due to shading. Cytospera will kill whole branches, not just inner part, with end needles many times turning purple before brown. Rhizosphaera on the other hand is a needle cast disease which causes 2 yr old + needles to fall off. Generally Col spruce have such waxy needles that Rhizosphaera rarely has the opportunity to infect them.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Whiz, the Rhizosphaera link I posted seems to contradict you comments about Blue Spruce and Rhizosphaera. I do agree with you from my observations of spruce, but what do you think explains the different opinions?

 

[Tree Wizard]

Mike - don't know what to think about the MN DNR article. It is only very rarely that I see Rhizosphaera on Colorado spruce and I don't know as that I have ever seen it on the really blue ones. Most of what I see is on white, Black Hills and Norway. I suppose if the conditions are right for an extended period of time and there is a lot of innoculum around Colorados could get hit pretty hard.