Help my trees are sick

[melsch]

I live near Toronto in the southern part of Canada . My trees have been dying the last 5 years. I really don't want to cut them down but as per the photos do I have any choice? There is a growth on the trees as you can see. Is the growth killing them or is it a byproduct of dead branches.Any advice is greatly appreciated

[easy-lift guy]

Looks like pine borer damage. Likens attached to the branches, are the branches with the likens facing the north?. Pine borers can over time kill a tree. Depending on the age of the trees I would not be surprise. Look for many tiny holes up and down the bark. The more you see the more borer activity present.

easy-lift guy

[David Humphries]

How old is the fence?

 

Possibility that some of the roots of the trees were damaged during the construction/erection of the fence.

 

This may have resulted in the branch dieback, which in turn can lead to the presence of saprophytic organisms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Bob Morris]

Hi,

A fairly common disease of spruce trees in Ontario is Cytospora canker and they would look to be in a similar state to your trees. In addition I think I can see streaks of light coloured resin patches which would also suggest Cytospora canker. (Could be wrong about this). There is no known cure for Cytospora but there will be a gradual decline of the tree. This is prevalent in trees that are under stress from factors such as lack of water, disturbance by construction (fences etc.), trees planted closely together and probably several other environmental factors.

 

To get a proper diagnosis I'd call in a local arborist for an assessment or failing that check with your local councils Parks Department.

 

Bob

[melsch]

Thank you so much for your responses. Luckily it is an old fence so damage is probably not from that. I know there are ash borer on our street . Could it be the same bug? Either way do I most likely have to take them down? I took some more photos of the yuckiest part of the bark. We had an arborist 2 years ago look at them but he thought they were just stressed but it wasn't as bad back then. Yes the damage is mostly north facing.Thanks again

Edited May 25, 2016 by melsch
forgot something

[Treeation]

Surely you are best off getting an arb consultant or decent arborist to have a look and put your mind to rest?

[Rushes]

Have you changed the height of the lawn in the garden around the trees? It maybe looks a little too flat for trees of this age?