What's up with my poor nearly departed pinus parviflora?
All the limbs abruptly turned brown except a single limb.
The strange thing is that the surviving limb is sandwiched between dead limbs.
I presume the tree is going to go ahead and die, but it's been a month since the other limbs browned,
and yet the single remaining green limb is still green.
Anyone know what's happening here?
(Not the greatest photo, but I think you can see the problem.)
They are susceptible to many different pests and diseases and are also very ozone sensitive.I have read about a stress related problem called "White Pine Decline',but I don't know for sure if that is your problem.Maybe someone else will know more about this.
I'd be suspicious of a root problem. It looks like for some reason this tree has decided that the roots can only support the remaining green foliage, particularly if you havn't seen insect or bark damage. How old is it and how's the moisture situation? Southern pines get a root rot but I'm not sure of your species or area. Have you looked for evidence of pine bark beetle?
Also pines are one of the first trees to show stress signs of soil problems in the area.
It's about 10 yrs old. And it's on a gentle slope, so I doubt drainage is the main issue.
I'm never surprised to see a plant die; sadly, I've witnessed countless plants die.
I'm just surprised that the 2nd from lowest limb is the only surviving limb.
If it was a drainage issue or ozone or other metabolic stress, I'd expect the whole plant to be a goner.
I guess I'll just truncate above the level of the surviving limb and hope for the best.
Still seems very bizarre to me...
I hear ya about seeing plants die. Been there. Conifers are the worst sometimes to diagnose. No sign of pests?
I will try to look up some info about the Pine Decline problem.If it is not insects or weather factors,this could be the problem.I do remember that the pictures I saw were very much like yours.Part dead,part seemingly healthy.
Wow! I never knew!
http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/weeklypics/8-16-04.html
Might be pinewood nematode. It's a native organism that is killing several species of non-native pines throughout North America. I don't know about Pinus parviflora specifically, but several other species of Asian pines have proved to be vulnerable to it. If so, there isn't anything you can do except replace it with a native species of pine.
I'm still not sure,but if I can find the picture I saw,It looks exactly like Weerobin's tree.
KsBaptisia,
We posted at the same time,but you have brought up a very interesting point.
Yeah, Scots Pines and Austrian Pines are dieing in droves around here (frankly, I thought they were over planted anyway).
Could well be pinewood nematode. Haven't seen any data for Pinus parviflora, but the closely related Japanese endemic Pinus amamiana (a white pine confined to two islands off southern Japan) is susceptible, and now in danger of extinction (PWN was introduced accidentally to Japan about 60 years ago).
Resin
I found this article to be very interesting.
http://www.eco-systems.org/W_Pine_browning.htm
This is a different state,but maybe it will be of help.
http://hyg.aces.uiuc.edu/secure/subscribers/200805b.html
If it helps, trees afflicted by pinewood nematodes appear to die very suddenly. One week they look fine, the next they are dead. I think it actually takes quite a while for the nematodes to kill a tree, but the effects don't become obvious until right before the end.
Yikes!
Gardening is certainly not for the faint of heart.
Deer, bunnies, moles / voles, drought, late / early frosts, and now nematodes...
I give up.
Back to petunias and magnolias for me.
OK, I've snapped out of it....
Every plant demise is just a new planting opportunity in disguise.
I've been dying to try a Wollemi pine.
Better than a petunia anyway.
Don't ever give up! It's so amazing when you discover a new plant,especially when it's not really one that's supposed to grow in your area.
It does get a bit heartbreaking (and expensive) when things fail or are attacked by critters,but I guess that's part of the facination.(sp?)
Lynn
Kinda like the $40 platinum koi that wound up being a pile of heron poop in less than 24hrs.
I'm with you! I'm back on message.
Bring on the Wollemi pine! Or trachycarpus, or whatever....
Weeds, clay muck, varmints, brutal weather - who cares!
I'm ready for spring! Hope springs eternal!
Thank god, the spring catalogs will be arriving any minute now!
