Shagbark hickory woes

[Gopher]

Hi all. I just received a call from the owner of a shagbark hickory. They are planning on cutting it down tomorrow, and he remembered meeting me a number of monthes ago, and thought maybe he would call.

During the summer of 2001, they noticed one branch near the top of the approximately 70' tree which he described as "looking like early coloration or browning." The following summer (2002), there was much more of the tree affected, and he noticed pencil-lead sized holes all over the bark.

Having just moved to an area with hickory trees, I am ot that familiar with them. The main concern is that he has more trees that he is concerned about.

I am trying to figure out what it may be, as I have not seen the tree (as of yet). Could it be hickory bark beetle? But then why the flagging and leaf scorch or blotch?

Thanks for any insight.

Gopher

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

You know the drill Gopher, nothing special about Hickories, check the site for damage to the roots, it's 95% possible that's the problem. The bird or beetles that are making holes are secondary problems. You might want to look for lighting damage too.

 

[Gopher]

thanks Mike. I do know what to check for, but I haven't seen the tree yet. I got a call from the guy, and was trying to figure out as much as possible from description.

I did find a UsForest Service publication on the hickory bark beetle, and judging from the pictures, this is it. He is going to prune a limb for me tomorrow and look at the cross section to see if there is any fungal activity present.

What I am trying to find out is should he get the tree down immediately (he has other hickory trees present? I don't know enough about the overwintering habits of the hickory beetle (eggs, larvae, etc.)

Thanks.

Gopher

 

[Gopher]

Yes, I do agree that if I were there and investigated the whole tree, I would find a cause for the problem. That wil be the next step. Right now I want to determine what I should do to decrease the chance of the neighboring hickories of the same fate.

Gopher

 

[treeclimber165]

Uhhh, we's just a bunch of dumb tree cutters here. You might need to ask the techno- nerds over at the ISA board for long, boring, detailed analysis of the bark borer beetle you've found.