For Release February 5, 2006

What's Wrong With My Pine Tree?

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

I've been getting quite a few calls on pine trees lately with a multitude of symptoms causing concern. Now, before I go any further there's just one thing that I have to make clear. Kansas is the only state in the union that does not have a native pine tree. All of the other 49 states have at least one native pine tree. What this tells me is that pine trees are always going to be a challenge to grow in Kansas. But that doesn't stop me from growing them either!

Several people have expressed concern over all the little holes that they are seeing in the trunk of their pine trees, and occasionally other tree species as well. The holes are often arranged in a neat row of 5 to 10 holes, sometimes even several rows or occasionally just individual holes randomly all over the tree. These holes are caused by a little woodpecker known as the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (I'm not making this up) that spends winters in Kansas. It may feed on the sap, but is hoping that the sap flowing out of these sap wells will attract insects that will get stuck in the sap making for easy pickings for the woodpecker.

While this damage can be very visible and sometimes rather extensive, there is no evidence that this causes long term damage to the tree. In fact I can find some old pine trees with areas that have been sap well drilled annually for decades and the tree is still healthy and thriving. The tree will usually heal these areas over fairly quickly once the growing season starts in a few months so no action is necessary.

In some cases I am getting reports of dead limbs on trees. If it is just a scattered limb here or there, look to see if there is a lot of shade. Pine trees need full sunlight and if a limb starts to become heavily shaded, the tree will simply kill it off in a process known as self pruning. But, if just the ends of the branches are dead, mainly the area where the new growth comes out each spring, but older needles are still green, this is probably a disease known as tip blight. It is most likely to be seen on older (25+ years) Austrian Pines. This disease should be treated in April. Contact me for treatment options.

Of bigger concern is when all, or most, of a tree turns a funny gray green and then brown very suddenly, but the needles don't fall off the tree. We see this condition on Scots, or Scotch, Pines. It is a condition known as Pine Wilt and there is little we can do but cut down the infected tree and burn it up. The disease is carried by a beetle, but spraying for the beetle doesn't do any good and the disease is transmitted systemically (within the sap) so there is no treatment for this disease at this time.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, the biggest challenge to pines in Kansas is not insects or diseases but the weather. Weather extremes, on both ends of the scale, coupled with droughts and prairie fires, pretty well made it impossible for pine trees in Kansas over the past centuries. Right now we are facing a serious risk for pines (and spruces) and that's the warm dry winter weather. The leaves (needles) are still green and carrying on photosynthesis which requires water. If there isn't water in the soil, the tree burns up from the inside out. Unfortunately we don't know this until it is too late.

You need to prevent it rather than cure it, so hook up the hoses and run an open hose at a small stream (size of a pencil or your finger) for several hours on the root zone of the tree (twice the drip line distance out from the base). Don't use a root waterer as these often put the water below the roots. Do this every four weeks if we don't receive significant precipitation, any time of the year!

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