Question

Pic 1  

Pic 2   The arborist want to treat my Scots Pine but says it is a 50 50 shot. Needles are turning orange throughout in no particular pattern.

He wants to inject the ground in a drip line next week. In the spring, they want to do a series of treatments. That's a lot of money for not having a clear idea of what to expect. My question is: have you personally experienced a Scots pine recover with treatments?

Zone 6a

Answer
Did he say what he thought the cause of the problem was???? It looks like  Brown-spot needle blight, caused by Scirrhia acicola. IF so the controls are spraying with a fungicide.  

Brown spot is easily suppressed by fungicidal sprays in nurseries, seed orchards, and plantations. Trees may be sprayed with 4-4-50 Bordeaux mixture [4 lb (1.8 kg) copper sulfate, 4 lb (1.8 kg) hydrated lime, and 50 gal (189 liters) water] for hydraulic sprayers and 12-12-50 for mist blowers. Bordeaux is applied at the rate of 60 gal/acre (237 liters/acre) in hydraulic sprayers and 40 gal/acre (151 liters/ acre) in mist blowers. Chlorothalonil has also been found to be an effective suppression measure. It is applied at the rate of 2.5 lb/100 gal (1.1 kg/378 liters) of water for hydraulic sprayers and 6 lb/100 gal (2.7 kg/378 liters) of water for mist blowers.

In the north-central region the first spray should be applied when the new needles are about half grown. In severely infected plantations or during wet years, a second spray should be applied when the new needles are about half grown. In severely infected plantations or during wet years, a second spray should be applied 3 to 4 weeks later.

These work best when applied when the new needles come on in the spring.

I am not sure what he is treating with a soil applied fungicide.
Ask him what he thinks is the problem and let me know and I can give my opinion on the treatment.
Here is a web link to information on Brown spot.

 http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/br_spot_pines/brown-spot.htm