Question

Tree row  

Tree branch   Good morning Jim:

We purchased our house in 2009.  The previous owners went overboard trying to create a privacy screen for the pool.  There is a row of ligustrum folowed by 2 rows of Leyland cypress.  They are planted entirely too close together, but for the most part the cypress have been healthy and have grown to over 30 feet tall.

This past summer one of the cypress trees turned completely brown and died.  I removed it--you'll be able to see the gap.

In late summer another cypress started going from the deep green to a more pale/yellow green.  I examined the branches and stalk carefully but nothing stood out.  I applied Ironite and some tree fertilizer spikes and it seemed to get better over the winter, although it never returned to the dark green color of the others.

Just this week I noticed white sticky blobs on the branches. Is this a pest or diesease, and is it treatable?  Will it spread to the other trees as they currently do not show any symptoms.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Answer
Leyland cypress has several canker problems and cause the branches to die and the sticky white looks like maybe an aphid problem. It would be best that a person on the ground examine the tree and then he could give you a answer as to what is causing the problem. I would suggest you contact Andy Boone at [email protected], He is a retired Forest Pathologist that worked with the SC Forestry Commission. He is a friend and does diagnostic work in SC. He maybe able to ID the problem and give you advice on control. Here is a link to his web sire with a phone number. http://www.dendrodiagnostics.com/