You are here:

Conifers/Pine tree problem

Advertisement

Expert: - 2/27/2011


Question

My dad's sick pine
My father has a gnarly little pine in his yard that serves a focal point at the front of his house. He is very worried that it might be dying.
    The house and tree are located in the Black Hills of SD. The house sits atop an almost solid limestone shelf. In its original state, the shelf had 0 to 4 inches of topsoil, depending on where you looked. Limestone juts out everywhere, but there is also plenty of natural grass and ground cover.
    They built the house in 1974 and hauled in maybe a foot of topsoil for the front yard. The tree stands in the middle of the yard, which was planted with lawn grass. The pine tree at that time (1974) was pretty much the same size and shape as it is now--a kind of gnarled, wind-swept, interesting shape. It is located 10 feet from the front door, and one large root runs under the 3-foot sidewalk and regulary pushes up the concrete. Every year or so, my parents jack up the concrete and allow the root more room.
    For 35 years the tree continued to look happy and healthy, then suddently a couple years ago it started looking sickly. The top began to looked unhealthy and with fewer needles, and over the course of two years the sickliness has slowly descended.  It's trunk is about 12 to 18 inches across at the base, it stands approx 20 to 25 feet high. The only other piece of info I can give is that for a while there was a vine growing up its trunk and into its lower branches, but we removed the vine when the tree started to look bad, thinking the vine might be responsible for the disease. The tree has been vine-free for a year but it continues to decline.  
    There are many, many pine trees surrounding the house, and all of them are doing fine except for this one special little tree. Do you have any ideas of how we might save it? I've attached a picture. Thank you so much!

Answer
Sounds like the root system can not supply enough water and nutrients to the foliage to keep a full crown of needles. I would fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Apply just before a rain storm and you will not have to water. I would apply the fertilizer now and again in a couple of months and again next fall. This will increase the root growth and the overall health of the tree.  
    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 9Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    CommentI know it's hard to diagnose a sick tree without seeing it in person. I was thankful to have Jim's advice. We will definitely try his solution!


  • Add to this Answer
  • Ask a Question

Jim Hyland

Expertise

Registered Forester in the Southern US with 30 years experiance in managing pines. Expert in pine forest health from management to control of pests to ID of species.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.