Poor Limber Pine

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Jean

Andy’s tomatoes aren’t the only pathetic plants up on the land. The limber pine Beate and Tim planted for him a couple of years ago is looking sicker and sicker.

6-04-16 Limber Pine 1

6-04-16 Limber Pine 3

Beate thinks the problem is bark beetles, but says, “On the plus side if a pine eating bug can find this lonely pine, the bees should have no trouble finding the apple trees.”

I’m not quite so optimistic. After almost 40 years of experience up there (we bought the land in the fall of 1976), I think curiosity and a sense of adventure is probably more appropriate than optimism.

 
June 5, 2016
 

 

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6 Responses to Poor Limber Pine

  1. Still the Lucky Few says:
    June 5, 2016 at 7:50 am

    It does look sick. I love pines, and hope you find out what is bothering it! A nursery would probably be able to give you an answer, but I’m sure you have already thought of that!

    • Jean says:
      June 5, 2016 at 12:27 pm

      I Googled “pine tree pests” and it said,

      Bark beetles are common pine pests, with more than 600 species of bark beetles in North America and 200 species in California alone. The most common species are western pine beetles, engraver beetles and red turpentine beetles…..

      Because beetles live under bark, insecticides are usually not effective against them. Cultural practices, such as selecting healthy trees that are suited to your environment, avoiding injuring pines which can allow beetles access through wounds, and thinning dense stands of trees are the best defenses.

      It doesn’t look as if there’s much to be done. The poor tree is definitely not in a dense stand of trees, and the bark was injured by a buck rubbing his antlers against it in December, 2013, so there’s nothing we can do now.

  2. Rummuser says:
    June 5, 2016 at 8:30 am

    Again, I am clueless! I however agree that “curiosity and a sense of adventure is probably more appropriate than optimism.”

  3. Cathy in NZ says:
    June 5, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    interesting but sad, maybe if the pine has been one of many, they might not have got the beetle…on the other hand…these beetles must have great scenting systems to find your “lone” pine.

    isn’t google great…sometimes I go on a journey for fun, I look up something obscure and I get many hits for all kinds – I select one, and hope it has links, I end up going surfing – all over the world…sometimes I am not even within the original obscure.

    I remember once, decades ago – being on someone’s textile page, and I linked to her DH page – which took me to woodturners…I was gone for hours, immersed in a world that I knew little if nothing about 😉

    today, I’m going to start looking at subject matter to do with taking another paper at Uni – this coming semester – see if I can link something I’m interested in to fit with the themes… I nearly got up in middle of night, but now that’s a public holiday today, I think it would be nice to do today…

  4. KB says:
    June 5, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    We have Limber Pine up here at 8200′ in Colorado. Perhaps it is too warm where you live for that Pine? I hope your optimism works!

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