Pine trees dying

[magneto259]

Hello all I just bought a house and it has a few large pine trees in the yard. One of them looks completely dead the bark falls off to the touch and there isn't a needle to be found on the tree. About 8 ft up the trunk of the tree I noticed there is alot of holes bored into the tree right through the bark. I've done some research and I believe it is some form of borer because there is no clumps from bag worms. The holes are appearing on the other pines also just not as bad. 2 of the other trees aren't in quite as bad shape and still have some green needles on them.
What can I do to save them if it is possible?

I bought some insecticide from my local store and it kills borers of various kinds but I want to make sure I kill the right ones. What is the best way to identify the little nasties?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Urban Forester]

Without pictures it's pretty hard to tell if they are really pines (alot of homeowners call ANY large evergreen a pine, when they may be spruces). These insects, most likely Ips./dendroctonus beetles (bark beetles) are host specific. Treatment should be aimed at the flight period of the adults, which can vary greatly depending on which beetle is doing the damage. Entry can begin on warm days in Feb. for certain beetles all the way through July and August. In a perfect world preventative treatments are much better. I would first remove the dead one, and water the remaining trees,As with most boring insects they are, MOST OF THE TIME "secondary pests" (there because of another problem) drawn to stressed trees, as sap flow is reduced in stressed trees making entry eaiser. Ips. beetles tend to attack higher up on the tree, while Dendroctonus attack much lower. Here are some resources that may help you ID the beetle:
http://www.barkbeetles.org/
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2557.html
http://eny3541.ifas.ufl.edu/pbb/PBB_ID.htm
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/fpc/fpcguide/beetle/betletoc.htm

Good Luck, once established they can be problematic, Check out the damage done in Alaska and Colorado.

 

[magneto259]

Thanks for your speedy reply. I'll do the tips you suggested. I'll try to get some pictures of the trees that show the damage and the holes bored into the bark. Also i'll take some pictures under the bark so you can see the spots under there too. Thanks again

 

[magneto259]

Here are some pictures of my trees.
If anyone can offer any help I would really appreciate it!!! Thanks in advance!!

 

[magneto259]

Heres more.

 

[magneto259]

And more.

 

[magneto259]

More again.

 

[magneto259]

And finally.

 

[cwelvy]

We use systemic implants in Nor.Cal. Google systemic implants for bark beetles. I am not sure I can tell you what we use do to sponsorships...

 

[BonsaiJedi]

Looking at picture IMG_1352.jpg...from Right to Left you have a colorado blue spruce that (at least from the photos I can see) looks fine. Then a Scots Pine that may be savable, then 4 more Scots pines that should be removed, then another blue spruce that again looks fine.
For the Scots pine that may be savable...about ten feet up the tree splits into 4-5 leaders...at that junction there appears to be something yellow, is this a fungus?, sap streaking?, or something else? It is difficult to see from the photo. Were many of the borer hole photos taken from this tree or the other, more dead ones?
As Urb Forester suggested, the borers you have in your tree are considered secondary pests...ones that generally attack trees already under some sort of stress. The left to right progression of decline in the Scots pines makes me think of some sort of root rot moving through them. Ever seen fungal fruiting bodies near the base or have you ever pulled the bark near the base off the trees farthest to the left to see if there is anything that looks suspect? I'd check that out and likely advise some sort of mulching program around the trees. Great looking turf like that going up to the tree trunk are signals that lack of water may not be the issue. Scots pines and spruce certainly need water but not like the turf does.

May be an overwatering issue that led to root rot that weakened the tree the invited the borers.

 

[magneto259]

For the Scots pine that may be savable...about ten feet up the tree splits into 4-5 leaders...at that junction there appears to be something yellow, is this a fungus?, sap streaking?, or something else? It is difficult to see from the photo. Were many of the borer hole photos taken from this tree or the other, more dead ones?

I believe the yellow stuff is sap but I may be wrong i'll get the ladder out and check and post back about it.

Most of the borer holes pictures were taken from the completely dead one but a few others were from the somewhat healthier ones. I'll double check and post back also. Thanks for the reply!!!! Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Urban Forester]

From the pictures I would surmize the presence of Ips Pini (Pine Engraver) is almost a certainty. 2 jpegs showed galleries w/frass, this excludes Dendroctonus as they push everything out. Ips beetles mix their frass w/wood dust a a 'first meal' for the larvae. However as earlier stated their presence would tend to be of a secondary nature. There MUST be something else stressing these trees to invite such a dense population. The fact the spruces look OK is not suprizing as Ips. Pini do not attack spruce. I would remove the dead and badly damaged ones they will not make it. Then I would determine the source of the stress, it doesn't appear to be drought, due to lawn condition. HOWEVER if subsurface soil at a depth of 4 to 6 inches is dry, then it could be the lawn has 'swiped' the available water, I've seen that happen b4. Not to add "fuel to the fire" but... is pine wilt nematode a issue yet in Ohio.