Question
There is a disease killing the pine trees in my neighborhood.  I have the largest pine, well over 50 feet and don't want to lose it.  The first thing I've seen is needles turning brown, falling off which I first thought was caused by a dry spell, but I have lost a small pine and the bark turns grayish in color and eventually the tree fell over and was just like cardboard inside.  My big trees seem ok at the time, but I would like to do what I can to prevent the disease - do you have any suggestions on remedies what I can do to prevent this from killing all my pines.  I don't see it affecting the maples or sweet gums, not yet but any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Sandy


Answer
From what you discribe it will be hard to determine IF you have a problem and what the problem might be. I would suggest if you are in the US that you contact the local State Forestry Agency and ask one of their Foresters to come take a look at your trees--this is a free service. They can better on the ground determine your problem. In any case insects and diseases that may attack pines will not attack maples or sweetgum or any other species--diseases and insects are highly species related and do not cross from a conifer to a hardwood. If you will go to google search engine (google.com) and put in your state forestry agency name you should be able to find their numbers OR look in your local phonebook and they should be listed.