Question
I am growing a cedar tree that I dug up and put in a pot when it was less than a foot tall. It is a couple years old now, and last year I planted it in the ground on the hill in my back yard. I made sure to keep it well watered until fall. It is now almost 6 feet tall. Today I was up on the hill and noticed that the very top of it is dying/dead. Probably about 8 to 10 inches. The rest of the tree looks healthy. We've had a relatively dry spring, and I'm wondering if this was happening because the tree was just starving for water. If the top is truly dead will that affect the way the tree continues to grow (ie a split trunk or something)?

Thanks.

Answer
More than likely it was attacked by an insect that bores into the terminal leader of younger trees. It is either a tip moth or a weevil that feeds on the top--both insects have populations that one year maybe large and are causing some problems but most years the population is small and cause no problems. I would not be concerned about the insect damage the tree as it grows will be lass attractive to these insects. The tree will recover--one of the top branches will take over as the new top and as the tree grows there maybe a slight crook or bend in the trunk where the branch was. It will not cause the tree trunk to split, in fact after a few years you will hardly notice the difference since this is a young tree.