Hi, I'm new here and hoping for some advice. We have a 15-20 ft pine tree that developed a big issue seemingly overnight last month. Last year it had one branch whose needles went brown in the middle of the tree, and we didn't think too much of it, just thought maybe it snapped or had some other damage.

This year we went away on vacation for 10 days and came home and found the top 2/3 of the tree with brown needles. I attached pictures below.

Is our tree a goner? Is there anything we can do to rescue it? Can anyone tell what the issue is? I looked at pictures of different fungal and pest diseases but they didn't look quite the same. Just overall stress?

Thanks in advance!

In my experience, pines dead at the top will soon be completely dead. It seems to be a circulation issue.

Does your area have Pine Wilt?

Hi jameskevindo:

Can you take and post some additional pictures?

Lean inside of the branches, and take pictures of the trunk from where the branches have all green needles up through the transition to where the branches have all brown needles. Take some pictures of the ground conditions around this pine.

Do you have automatic irrigation on the property, or are there any water lines in the area near this tree?

Has there been any utility work or other excavation of soils in the vicinity of this tree?

Lucy68 said: Does your area have Pine Wilt?

I think it's a thing that happens here - I can find UMass articles about it affecting New England and the Northeast generally in recent years. But I'm not sure how to find out if it's something particular to Western Massachusetts in 2024. Do you have any idea how I could find out more about that? Thanks!

ViburnumValley said: Hi jameskevindo:

Can you take and post some additional pictures?
...

Thanks - I will upload the pictures you described shortly, along with answers to your other questions!

jameskevindo said: Do you have any idea how I could find out more about that?

Is there a University Extension Service in your area? I would go there first.

Any of these places close to you?

https://extension.umaine.edu/c...

ViburnumValley said:

Lean inside of the branches, and take pictures of the trunk from where the branches have all green needles up through the transition to where the branches have all brown needles. Take some pictures of the ground conditions around this pine.

Sure, here's these pictures -

Higher in tree where needles are brown:



Lower in tree where needles are green:


Ground on either side of tree - there's a retaining wall downwards in one side, then lawn, then a garden bed.

ViburnumValley said:
Do you have automatic irrigation on the property, or are there any water lines in the area near this tree?

Has there been any utility work or other excavation of soils in the vicinity of this tree?

No, for all of the above.

I think I may have found a problem, though. Looking at the trunk I found that someone had left a rope knotted around it several years ago, and it's in the location where the affected branches are above and the good branches below. I managed to get part of the rope off, but the other half seems embedded under bark.



Is this maybe the culprit?

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!

Sorry for shouting. This is far too common in home landscapes, where gardeners don't think about these kinds of things after planting.

I'm sorry that it has come to this, but there is no life above that hangman's rope - plus that would be an extremely weak point that could/can easily snap right off anyway.

Unless you want a horizontal pine at just the height of that tourniquet, I'd plan to remove the whole thing - and start again.

Life is full of lessons; gardening teaches many of them.

I would be inclined to cut off the strangled top and see what the bottom grows into. I might be attractive.