pefrey
New Member
So the base of the tree has been a little suspect for a few years. Lately it has gotten worse as show by the pics. Last year there was a spongy moth outbreak and this tree was pretty much stripped of its' canopy, but it grew back when the infestation subsided. For the first part of this summer the canopy looked good, but now in late summer it is looking poor as are the upper branches. I marked the trunk in red so you would know which tree I am talking about.
This question is, is this tree dying or is it dead?
Follow up question #1 - what might have caused the rot at the base of this tree?
Follow up question #2 - in order to prevent spongy moth from ascending the tree this year, I wrapped a layer of polyester batting around the tree (about 3" wide - you can see it left a mark in one of the pictures) then duct tape over that followed by tanglefoot on that. The polyester batting was to ensure the caterpillars could not crawl under the tape as the bark is difficult if not impossible to ensure complete sealing from this. Is the batting bad for any reason? There was no outbreak this year, it was a 1 year cycle thankfully.
Thank you in advance for your help.
This question is, is this tree dying or is it dead?
Follow up question #1 - what might have caused the rot at the base of this tree?
Follow up question #2 - in order to prevent spongy moth from ascending the tree this year, I wrapped a layer of polyester batting around the tree (about 3" wide - you can see it left a mark in one of the pictures) then duct tape over that followed by tanglefoot on that. The polyester batting was to ensure the caterpillars could not crawl under the tape as the bark is difficult if not impossible to ensure complete sealing from this. Is the batting bad for any reason? There was no outbreak this year, it was a 1 year cycle thankfully.
Thank you in advance for your help.
