Sick Locust?

[Twitchly]

Hi. We live in southern Michigan. We have a couple of locust trees in our back yard, planted right up against the driveway. They're planted in the hedge that separates yard from our neighbor's. They're quite tall (maybe 3x the height of our 2-story house; I'm not good at judging these things). Not sure what kind of locust; there are no thorns.

This year, many (most?) of the lower branches did not produce leaves. I understand that can happen when these trees get tall, though it was surprising to see so many branches die at once. (Something to do with our unusually early spring this year, followed by frosts maybe? No idea.) Then this afternoon, a very large branch snapped and fell onto the driveway. The branch is half living, half dead. When I looked at the leaves, I noticed that many of them looked shriveled and some were discolored. I've seen the leaves doing that for a number of years but the trees have seemed fine so I wasn't concerned. (Too much shade, maybe?)

I've called an arborist to come take a look at it next week (Davey; I hope they're good). But I wanted to run it by you all here, too, for some additional perspective.

Attached are a few pictures.

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Thanks in advance for your help. I would hate to lose these trees, since they're our primary source of shade.

 

[Raintree]

Your shriveled leaves have been damaged by Honeylocust Plant Bug View attachment 240969 This insect can be easily treated with a spray or injection.

 

[Twitchly]

Thanks. Would that account for all the dead branches, too?

 

[Raintree]

From you pics the deadwood seems to be nothing out of the ordinary for Honeylocust trees. These trees are prolific producers of deadwood. Good for our business, with your un-pruned trees & the plant bug attack the canopies appear to be thin. I wouldn't worry about losing them.

 

[Urban Forester]

Our (Michigan) trees budded early this year due to the warm spell in march. On the night of april 28th temps got down to 24 degrees, this caused frost damage. Frost will tend to "collect" on the lower canopy. I have seen alot of locusts (and other species) damaged by frost. Locusts are very tough trees and no long-term affects are expected. Don't let somebody tell you they need "fert" or something, one well timed (early-may) spray will control the plant bug issue.