Question
I have a 20 year old crabapple tree.  It has never been overly healthy - however, this spring it had a rather nice display of flowers.  Shortly after it bloomed, I was out checking on it and found the leaves curled and dried up with some kind of rusty spots on them and fruit dried up and falling off. Upon further inspection, I found several pencil size holes in the base of the trunk on the south side.  They're clean looking (no sticky stuff around the openings) and some are about 2 inches deep.  Can you tell me what kind of insect this would be and is there anything I can do to save the tree.  My husband thinks we should just cut it down and start again.  Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

Answer
Sounds like a borer. These can be controlled with the use of an insecticide. Check with your local nursery/ garden type store and buy an insecticide for borers. One of the new ones is called Onxy but it may not be a vailable everywhere. Mix the insecticide by their instructuions in water and spray the trunk and any areas with these "holes". The rusty spots on the leaves is a fungus--spray the leaves with a fungicide for leaf spots (your garden store should be able to recommend which fungicide to use).