Can these trees be saved? I have two elms that are looking very poorly. I know elms do shed bark, but when the bark falls, it leaves a red spot, and you can see very tiny red dots all over the trunk and into the limbs? This condition has existed for quite some time. If it can be treated, how many applications would it take and with what insecticide? Thank you for any info you can supply.
That's just the natural colour of the inner bark. Exposure to sunlight and rain gradually bleaches it to the grey that you see on the rest of the trunk.
The tiny red dots are lenticels - small breathing pores to allow respiration in the bark and wood (all live tissues need oxygen!).
So no need to spray anything!
Resin
Thank you very much, Resin! Our neighbor has a beautiful elm with evenly distributed leaves, no spots, whereas our elm has branches with leaves that are hit and miss. (The neighbor's tree is much younger than ours.) Could this be caused by a fungus instead of an insect as the tree also has large white spots on it. Father-in-law advised me when I was planting that an elm is a trash tree, but I think the healthy ones are beautiful. We have very high humidity here, and there are many trees that look as if they have a fungus displaying a lot of white on the bark. Assume it would take many years for this to kill a tree. How about a fungicide? Would you be against that? (I must be into a treating mode.)
Thanks.
