How To Save A Dying Pine Tree
How to save a dying pine tree? Pine trees are healthy trees. In addition to serving as a privacy screen, these trees also act as an excellent wind barrier, and during the winter season, they provide some shade for those bright sunny days.
But instead of a good tree, you may find that your pine trees look mottled and brown. It’s good to know how to save dying pine trees in such a situation!
Unfortunately, not all pine can be saved from its brown bark condition; however, if you react quickly enough, you might be able to save the life of those who can be saved.
In this guide, I will explain what you could do before it’s too late.
How To Save A Dying Pine Tree
It’s awful when your yard is dying. Backyard pines (Pinus spp.) are usually tall, majestic, evergreen trees, but hundreds of species and cultivars exist, and some can be short and shrubby.
Species thrive in many different climate zones, including the United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 10 that require little maintenance after establishment in well-drained, sunny sites.
Poor culture results in stressed trees, vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Beetle infestation and pine pitch canker are primary causes of pine tree death west of the Mississippi River.
1. Transplat them At Accurate Time
If you want pine trees to prosper, it’s imperative that you transplant them either in late fall or early winter, which is nature’s time to go dormant.
Otherwise, there are significant risks associated with transplanting pines that can cause your tree’s condition to worsen drastically throughout the process of planting and taking care of it before it has adequately established itself into its new environment.
2. Supply Enough Needed Water
Give your pine 1 inch of water every week for the first six months after transplant unless rainfall exceeds 1 inch per week.
Resume irrigation after the tree is established during periods of extended drought, providing 1-to-4 inches of water every ten days.
Irrigate slowly with a soaker hose to get the water down to the deep root. Place the soaker hose beneath the canopy but at least 12 inches from the trunk.
3. Prevent Unusual Weeds
When dealing with pines, you need to ensure that weed trimmers are kept distinct from the trees themselves.
Otherwise, there’s a chance that pests may be attracted to the damaged plants, which will then, in turn, attract more problems to your plants resulting in more significant issues for your entire garden.
You should also avoid pruning any of your pine trees during November through February as it turns out bark beetles (which could potentially destroy a real tree if left unchecked) are less active during this time.
So the probability of them being around and causing damage is much smaller if at all.
4. Transplant It At Wide Space
Make sure there is no construction of any kind going on in your neighborhood because you don’t want that to affect the growth of any nearby trees.
Be mindful and make sure no construction vehicles are driving around near the roots at all, or they can block the soil and prevent oxygen from getting to the tree where it needs to be.
5. Inspect the Branches
Inspect your fruit tree for any signs of tumors, discolorations, or illnesses. Suppose symptoms include lesions on the bark or discolored branches and fall to the ground and follow down their constituents to look for lesions near the roots.
Look for sunken infection sites on the main trunk of your tree. This can be caused by a fungal disease called pitch canker which affects certain varieties of pine trees, including native pines, especially Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), in 18 coastal counties of California.
We recommend trimming infected limbs off at their base rather than cutting them back further from where you initially see lesions present on the trunk.
Because doing so is less likely to spread the infection further into other parts of your tree. We also want to remind you to kindly make sure firewood previously cut from diseased trees is burned because it could host other similar diseases.
6. Inspect the Tree’s Trunk
Inspect the tree’s trunk from bottom to top, looking for any torn or damaged bark. Look carefully at the area and see if it contains a sap identified as sawdust created by the beetle activity.
Bark beetles such as engraver beetles, Jeffrey pine beetles, Mediterranean pine engravers, and mountain pine beetles bore into tree barks to get to the inner layer of the bark. Prune out and burn those infested branches.
7. Inspect Any Unusual Growth
Look for mistletoe growing in your trees. Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.), evergreen parasitic plants, can infest pine trees and, despite the festive allure, weaken and kill the trees by absorbing water and mineral nutrients from the host.
Prune out infected branches back to healthy lateral branches at least 12 inches below the point where the mistletoe was attached.
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