Sick tree?

George76

Treehouser
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May 15, 2019
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Hi
The top several branches crowning the tree are dead. Some others at the bottom.

I'm in Chicago area.

Does anybody recognize this white stuff? Is it bird poo?
Or a fungus or something?

Thought I'd try for some advice here before consulting a professional.

Thanks for your input,


George
 
Likely sap. Wood peckers might be one cause, also dripping pine cones over time, wind damaged branches, old wounds can ooze for a long time. Maybe boring insects. Fun fact: you can collect the white dry sap to use as incense when placed on hot charcoal.
 
It is sap/pitch coming out of some type of wound as said above. When damaged the tree will pump the stuff out to try and seal the damage. Hard to tell what caused the damage without looking at it in person.
 
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  • #5
Thanks,
So can the tree is not diseased or dying, then?
The dead branches on top could even grow back on top with time?

Would a wound cause branches to die on top as well?

I'll keep an eye on it, thanks for the advice. Anything an arborist can do to inspect it and fix the problem? Seal up the wound or anything? I'd like to get the tree branches back to green all the way up the trunk..

So the sap is not a reaction to general stress from wind or lack of water -- it is result of an actual wound somewhere?
 
Best to have someone look at it. What you are seeing is the after affect you need to find out what's wrong first. It could be bugs, could be animals, it could be pathogens of either fungal or bacterial origins, or it could be environmental stressors chemicals. It could be a lot of things.
 
It's actually kinda hard to make a good diagnosis from a pic, but as has been said it's under some sorta stress for sure.

Sooo... where do we send the bill? :)

:lol:
 
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  • #9
Thanks all, I really appreciate the advice.

I just took a quick pic, huge Boeings fly directly over it, I'm about a mile East of O'hare Airport.

So maybe it's the jet fuel getting dumped on my tree!?

Or....maybe it's just birds...:lol:

Thanks again
 
I don't think I've ever seen one overcome a branch, that gets plenty of sun, dying back. And they don't do a good job at all of filling in with new branches where bare spots are.
 
I dead wooded a cedrus atlantica once, a small one about 30 years old. It was covered by sap, with some limbs dead or dying, what a mess. Not a massive flooding, but many many small sags. Each one came from a tiny hole from a bark borer. Thousands of them. Curiously, there was almost none on his brother a few meters away. Often, many bugs strike when they smell that the tree has a problem. So I really thought that this cedrus will be gone soon.
But no. I saw him a few years later, still alive and in a pretty much good shape, which surprised me. No more sap dripping on the bark, and the holes in the crown began to be filled by the growth of the neighbor limbs. I was so pleased to see that.
 
I dead wooded a cedrus atlantica once, a small one about 30 years old. It was covered by sap, with some limbs dead or dying, what a mess. Not a massive flooding, but many many small sags. Each one came from a tiny hole from a bark borer. Thousands of them. Curiously, there was almost none on his brother a few meters away. Often, many bugs strike when they smell that the tree has a problem. So I really thought that this cedrus will be gone soon.
But no. I saw him a few years later, still alive and in a pretty much good shape, which surprised me. No more sap dripping on the bark, and the holes in the crown began to be filled by the growth of the neighbor limbs. I was so pleased to see that.

Thanks for sharing that story, Mark-Antoine.

Tim
 
Cedars has been removed from the backyard by tree removal experts. It's a good experience with these experts and surely going to call them for future removals.
 
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