How can we save this tree?

We have an exotic evergreen that was here when we moved in. The top couple of feet were already dead. Every year, we lose a couple more feet. Is there anything we can do to save it or is it just dying a slow death?

Can you call an arborist or the Extension Agent?

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/treecare/forest_health/whitesprucediagnosis.pdf

Anything here ring a bell?

Scorpio Rising wrote:Can you call an arborist or the Extension Agent?

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/treecare/forest_health/whitesprucediagnosis.pdf

Anything here ring a bell?

I've been trying to find an arborist for 2 years. So far, no luck. I will keep digging. Thanks.

Do you know how the previous owner cared for the tree?  Do you have ground termites near the tree?

NanSFG wrote:Do you know how the previous owner cared for the tree?  Do you have ground termites near the tree?

I think the previous owner ignored it, cuz the decay was already starting when we moved in. I will check for termites. Thanks.

Could it be some kind of borer insect like in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5xTcAF5eE

trolleydriver wrote:Could it be some kind of borer insect like in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5xTcAF5eE

Thanks, Trolley. I'll check for those guys, too.

From the article provided earlier, the symptoms seem to parallel the White Pine Weevil.  Even if its not that exact bug, the trajectory fits so its likely a similar issue.  I'd dose it with imidocloprid.  Its a systemic and has been proven to work to the detriment of bees, but I doubt there are many bees pollinating this (Deodar?) Cedar.  Bayer makes several products with this as the active ingredient.

bwaynef wrote:From the article provided earlier, the symptoms seem to parallel the White Pine Weevil.  Even if its not that exact bug, the trajectory fits so its likely a similar issue.  I'd dose it with imidocloprid.  Its a systemic and has been proven to work to the detriment of bees, but I doubt there are many bees pollinating this (Deodar?) Cedar.  Bayer makes several products with this as the active ingredient.

Thanks, bwaynef. I'll check with Bayer, tomorrow.

Debbie Downer, here. If a forest tree has been neglected for years, it may be too late to save it. A weakened tree is susceptible to insects. If it were my tree, I would have it removed and re-create a forest environment, heavy on leaves and wood chips for mold, maybe a bit of manure. After all, there are beers and deer in the wood. Have the tree stump and branches ground and chipped in place. Water the area this summer and pray for winter rain. Plant a new one in the spring and make sure it gets water until well established. It may be better to plant a valley species such as Modesto Ash or Chinese Pistachio, rather than a mountain species. Just enjoy it's growth over the years.

Beers in the wood, Sanderson? Hmmm.... Let's go hunting!

Bears! I meant bears.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Beers in the wood, Sanderson?  Hmmm....  Let's go hunting!

I wanna come!

Scorpio Rising wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:Beers in the wood, Sanderson?  Hmmm....  Let's go hunting!

I wanna come!

Me, too! I like brown beers, and black beers, especially stout and porterly? portly? ones.

sanderson wrote:Bears!  I meant bears.

Sorry, but you are not allowed to take it back. The "beer" hunting trip is being organized.

sanderson wrote:Bears!  I meant bears.

Migosh, Sanderson, these sfgers show no mercy. Ya wanna hide out at my place until this dies down? 

Yes, as long as you don't have any bears.

Sorry sanderson ... I just could not help myself.

Unfortunately the worst case scenario is it does't make it, but if it were me, in the mean time I'd trim off the dead branches, carefully dose it for pests, feed it, grab a couple of bears  and sit back and enjoy looking at it. 


Sorry couldn't help but join in on the fun, but seriously I hope you can save it, it is a lovely tree!

Ditto!

sanderson wrote:Yes, as long as you don't have any bears.

No bears -- no beers either. 

For me I'd feed the 12 foot area round the tree with a decent liquid artificial fertilizer ( & fork it in a bit ) that has a little bit of each nutrient N, P & K and water it for 20 min each evening with a hose pipe if you can afford to for at least 6 months . re feed every six weeks

I'd also put some polythene sheet over the fed area once it was watered in each evening to slow evaporation .
 As also said give it a spray wash to kill off any likely pests that are sapping it's strength .

Replace the tree with a like for like one grown by yourself .... ?
If you can , you could also do an air layering exercise on a healthy growing branch about a foot from the end .
 
Once you have it set up , wrap the outer plastic in some black trash bag plastic and cable tie it lightly in place .. the black bag bit is to exclude light as a lot of trees  won't make good rootballs in the air layering if light can enter the root ball .

Does this mean that the beer hunt is off...? sigh.... FINE!

Hi Lyndeeloo! How are you?? Where ya been?

TD - Love your bear pic!!

Sanderson, you know I love you... :-)

Thank you, plantoid. Great info. I would love to have a baby one of these. I see air layering in my future.

Do you have any idea of the depth of soil the tree is in ?

Here's why I've asked  ..........

 Back in the mid 1950's the ground at the place we lived at was sulphurous blue clay , cold , wet & dead in winter with few if any worms and in summer rock hard & no worms ..so hard in summer that it was a pick axe job to get into it.   So wet and cloying in winter that you had to dip your spade in a bucket of water to try and stop it sticking to the spade each time you dug into it.

Come April 1955 Dad  & my big bro Bill  aged 15 ) pick axed 12 holes forty foot apart  along one of our boundary lines  , each  over four feet wide and deep .
Dad refiled the holes with a barrow of four year old pig muck  & its straw bedding plus chicken muck of the same age with its straw bedding & feathers in  it , then a barrow of the clay till  the hole was full .   As you might know / guessed the four year old manure was alive with muck worms & beneficial bacteria etc.

Whilst Dad was doing the hard work of back filing , Big bro Bill and my other older brother John were tasked with getting down in the nine  foot deep land drainage ditch , dig out a hole in the bed and let it fill up with the 1/4 inch of water that was running along the bed of the ditch . they then took buckets of stream water out the dug out trench and kept pouring it in the " PIT-POT as dad was back filling it 

 In each those 12 PIT-POTS Dad planted a four year old damson plum sapling , they all took well and gave us loads of plums if a late May frost didn't kill the flowers off .

 If you live in a poor soil / rocky area  you might like to try Dad's PIT-POT idea .

You can easily use a liquid feed twice a year for a tree in a pit pot .  Use a sunken 3 or 4 inch dia pipe plastic  that you put in place when you plant the tree ( 2 feet away from the tree and three feet deep ,  using a " tea "  made from chicken muck &  their beddings in a tied up and hung sack into a n open topped barrel filled with water .

Brewed in the open topped  barrel with a couple of pounds of sugar solution or a couple of pints of medium strength  diluted in hot water Black molasses solution added to the brew to get a lot of friendly microbes going like the clappers .

Every few days lift the sack up /almost out the barrel to let the brew drain out the sack back into the  barrel and then lower it back into the brew

 After 14 days the tea water should be slightly stinky &  a nice green colour.    You'll have a great liquid feed for almost all of your garden & tree needs .

Warning ...
Don't put it directly on the soft fruits or stuff like lettuce leaves ..
IE. Not direct on the crops actual  flesh of stuff you eat raw or un peeled such as strawberries , raspberries radish , spring salad onions , cut & come again salad leaf due to E. Coli risks being high in such situations .