Tree help. either a evergreen or pine tree?

Question

at the place i work we have 4 pine trees (about 35-45 feet tall) and around 2 of them is a deck with two square holes around the trunk of the tree. around this time i noticed the two trees surrounded by the deck are loosing little pices of branches about 4-5 in long and the two trees look less full in needles as te other 2 around them. i have worked here for 3 years and never noticed this before. does anyone know whats wrong?

Answer 1

I second the first answer, however, you should check to see what colour the needles are. If the needles on the tree are looking chlorotic (yellow), pull one of and check to see if there are any dark bands (lines) through them. If there is, the trees have some sort of needle cast or needle blight disease..a very common disease in pine trees, especially if there are planted out of the ecosystem. Also chek cteh truck (bole) of the tree and see if there are any gulls or pitch coming out anywhere. Usually with a lack of nutrient and water..the tree becomes stressed and will more likely get attacke by other abiotic and biotic agents.

Answer 2

the trees are getting too old and need to be chopped down

Answer 3

A pine tree is a evergreen tree.  Each year it looses its needles from 3 years ago. There may be non-native pines that have different needle cycles.  You have heavy needle fall in the fall(my trees have just finished).  As the tree grows the upper brances and needles shade the lower branches.  At some point when the branch gets too little sunlight it grow fewer and fewer needles untill finally the last of the needles are 3 years old fall off and you have a dead branch.  Pieces of the dead branch gradually fall and mostly you end up with a stub that gets encased in the trunk of the tree as it gets larger.  Many people assume as the tree gets taller it takes the branches higher.  But actually they stay at about the same height as when they first emerged.

Now in your case everything could be normal and healthy for a tree.  So determine if it has everything it needs to survive.  Is the deck made of wood and is there any roof area blocking rainfall from reaching the roots(that includes the entire drip line. That distance from the trunk to the fatherest branches).  Or dones it get extra water from runoff.  If the deck is solid it is unlikely to receive adequate water.  If this happens the tree will respond in a number of ways.  It could put on fewer new needles, it could have a much shorter leader(the shoot at the top of the tree that grows out of the last whorl of branches).  Your "looking thinner" could also be because it just lost those dead needles.

Your tree could be suffering from poor nutrition since there is unlikely to be much dead material left around the tree.  Its hard to make any blanket statement about this but I have seen many trees that have beed deprived for years and just keep going.

There are also many things that attack trees, especially those under stress from poor growing conditions or drought.  If you think this is a long answer, you can't imagine how long one would need to be to help determine if an insect, fungus or mite is atacking you tree.

Answer 4

The trees are probably not getting enough water and nutrition from their roots.  Structures around trees as you describe keep the rain from getting to the roots properly and the trees are in stress.  If possible you or get the grounds keeper from your employer to water the trees an supply them with some soluble nutrients.  they are slowly starving for food and water because their root systems have been restricted.  You were very observant to notice this.