conifer ID and treatment help please

[Definitive Dave]

I have a client with two of these trees on the property, it a historic registry residence and a very regulated old neighborhood. The client asked us to remove them last year (our firtst at this property) as there were nearly no visible needles on either one. I have never seen a tree like this and have been in the green industry in Ohio for about 30 years now.
The city arborist asked us to remove the masses of vines on the trunks and remove all the dead limbs up to the top layer where a few needles remained and denied the permit for removal on a temporary basis to see what the trees would do.

Well this year we have marked improvement in the trees, when we saw some new needles breaking this spring we made sure to feed them well.

Now that they don't look completely dead the customer likes them and we would love to see them thrive as they are so unusual (at least around here).

The city arborist has moved on and the less I deal with bureaucrats, the more zen I feel.
Anybody know what these are and some pointers to proper care and feeding for a long thriving existence?
DDave

 

[BC WetCoast]

My initial guess would be Scotch pine, but I'm not confident in that guess. How many needle in the needle bundle?

 

[treeseer]

The vines killed all those lower branches? What a shame--could have been pretty.

 

[Definitive Dave]

not sure what did in the lower branches, the vines were much more dense at the bottom of the trees, without much mass up top. We removed all the vines that would come off without pulling off bark and we go back periodically and remove more as it becomes loose.
The bark is very thick and mottled, almost like scales. Scotch pine are pretty common around here and wouldn't be my guess, I was thinking the crazy bump/lump/ring type things were not a malady but a feature of these trees, both display very similar "rings" on the bottom 12-14' of the trunk
Next time we are on site I will check the needle bundles.
DDave

 

[Zale]

Picture of needles and a cone would be helpful.

 

[Oak Savanna]

I have a client with two of these trees on the property, it a historic registry residence and a very regulated old neighborhood. The client asked us to remove them last year (our firtst at this property) as there were nearly no visible needles on either one. I have never seen a tree like this and have been in the green industry in Ohio for about 30 years now.
The city arborist asked us to remove the masses of vines on the trunks and remove all the dead limbs up to the top layer where a few needles remained and denied the permit for removal on a temporary basis to see what the trees would do.

Well this year we have marked improvement in the trees, when we saw some new needles breaking this spring we made sure to feed them well.

Now that they don't look completely dead the customer likes them and we would love to see them thrive as they are so unusual (at least around here).

The city arborist has moved on and the less I deal with bureaucrats, the more zen I feel.
Anybody know what these are and some pointers to proper care and feeding for a long thriving existence?
DDave

Austrian pine also called European black pine (pinus nigra). Scotch pine has bright orange/red flaky bark at the top and I don't see any in those pics.

 

[Jed1124]

not sure what did in the lower branches, the vines were much more dense at the bottom of the trees, without much mass up top. We removed all the vines that would come off without pulling off bark and we go back periodically and remove more as it becomes loose.
The bark is very thick and mottled, almost like scales. Scotch pine are pretty common around here and wouldn't be my guess, I was thinking the crazy bump/lump/ring type things were not a malady but a feature of these trees, both display very similar "rings" on the bottom 12-14' of the trunk
Next time we are on site I will check the needle bundles.
DDave

Something tells me those rings around the trunk are from the tree reacting to to vines over the years. Pretty cool. I'll second Austrian pine.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Austrian pine also called European black pine (pinus nigra). Scotch pine has bright orange/red flaky bark at the top and I don't see any in those pics.

It could be due to the pic, but the Austrian pines I'm familiar with have much denser, darker and longer needles.

 

[Zale]

If it is Austrian pine, I wouldn't invest too much into it. In our area, diplodia tends to take them out eventually.