Diseased Monkey Puzzle

[Mark Bolam]

Went to look at a dying Chile Pine today that I won't be taking down as someone has priced it at £350 for a 3 man big day, rigging, one load of chip, one load of cord and a bitch of a drag.

 

I am, however, interested to know what is killing it?

 

The top 1/3 of the crown is still green, but below this the crown is dying from the bottom upwards, spreading from the butt to the tips, and has been for 8-9 months.

 

No signs of contamination on the ground, and the customer is unhappy to lose it so it hasn't been poisoned.

 

Any ideas?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

they are surprisingly prone to the armillaria, is there odd brown fronds about the canopy? orjust the lowest? they are often shedding lower canopy to regulate resources (water)

[Mark Bolam]

Bottom 2/3 of a 40' canopy are dark reddish brown.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Bottom 2/3 of a 40' canopy are dark reddish brown.

 

 

just cleanout the deadwood.

 

it will probably be fine, had a dry couple of years? confined root system?

 

if no patches of brown in remaining canopy lift and monitor irrigate when dry BUT dont over water because then the armillaria really will have it cos it thrives when people kill with love over watering.

[Mark Bolam]

It has been fairly dry in the last couple of years down here, but other MP's in this region are unaffected.

 

I would leave it for another season personally, but they are worried about it shedding dead limbs.

 

2/3 of the canopy is a fair deadwood!

[Old Mill Tree Care]

Fell it but that's an £850+vat job. Good luck to the £350 cowboys, they'll get ripped to shreds and all gear will be coated with resin. Ha!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

It has been fairly dry in the last couple of years down here, but other MP's in this region are unaffected.

 

I would leave it for another season personally, but they are worried about it shedding dead limbs.

 

2/3 of the canopy is a fair deadwood!

 

its fine Mark, thats the way they are in their habitat anyways, 10ft crown 100ft stem!

[Warren Stirling]

As Hamadryad said, they do sometimes lose a large proportion of the lower canopy at once, especially in a dry spell. £350 though, you'll probably find the arisings in a wood down the road.

[David Humphries]

Have seen Ganoderma at work on Monkey Puzzle.

 

I can't say for certain that Armillaria was not in attendance, but when the tree was cut down after it had lost the battle, there were no sheets of mycelium under the bark, or fb's, or rhizomorphs

 

 

I have a shot of the stump somewhere, I'll try and put it up.

 

 

.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Have seen Ganoderma at work on Monkey Puzzle.

 

I can't say for certain that Armillaria was not in attendance, but when the tree was cut down after it had lost the battle, there were no sheets of mycelium under the bark, or fb's, or rhizomorphs

 

 

I have a shot of the stump somewhere, I'll try and put it up.

 

 

.

 

selective delignification via ganos is unlikely to have killed that tree, though I wouldnt mind betting a thousand dogs a week cocking a leg did the armillaria the world of favours!

 

the body language is nice in this one david, really nice. talk about a wrinkly sock, Hilda ogden would be proud of this!