Browning needles on Monterey Pine

[Marc Lewis]

Got this very mature Monterey Pine and as you can see, 2 or 3 of the branches appear/are dying back. There is also alot of white sap leaking from the trunk. Does anybody have any idea what this might be and is it something to be concerned about. It has all the characteristics of pine pitch canker but from my reading, there have been no cases of this in Britain. Thanks in advance for any help at all with this.

[AJStrees]

We had brown needles on the Monterey on our grounds, but this was in summer time when there was a bit of a drought. Did you look online at the pitch pine canker pictures to see? 

[AJStrees]

By the way Monterey pines are extremely fast growing. We planted ours in 1997 and it is huge and looks mature with a large girth. 

[Marc Lewis]

We had brown needles on the Monterey on our grounds, but this was in summer time when there was a bit of a drought. Did you look online at the pitch pine canker pictures to see? 

Yes, it looks just like pine pitch canker. I was convinced it was until i read that there have not been any cases in UK. However it is spreading through Europe and is probably only a matter of time before it hits us. When/if it comes over it is thought it will hit the south east coast first and this tree is situated in Poole, Dorset!

[AJStrees]

Oh I see! Yes well let's hope that isn't too soon. I thought I would pop in a couple of shots of the Monterey we planted in 1997. Its already pretty big. Seems healthy now though. 

[Marc Lewis]

Oh I see! Yes well let's hope that isn't too soon. I thought I would pop in a couple of shots of the Monterey we planted in 1997. Its already pretty big. Seems healthy now though. 

Wow, thats come on in 20 yrs

[AJStrees]

Yes I think the soil is very fertile here and he seems to like it a lot. 

[Marc Lewis]

Can anybody recommend a good arboriculturalist in the Bournemouth/Poole area who maybe able to identify this? Thanks

[tree_beard]

Have you been up the tree for a close look at the browning limbs? No partial failure involved? I wouldnt say its a mature radiata, but is on the cusp of maturity... its of the age where I would expect it to start shading out its own lower/inner limbs and occasionally shitting out a tree sized limb from the upper crown... forming the classic wide spread tip heavy crown of a mature monterey

[Andrew McEwan]

Can you get some needle samples? It could be red band needle blight, but odd to see only that limb cluster affected or if you are still thinking PPC then get a sample in to the fc and register it via tree alert app.