I have a Monkey tree that is a little over 30' and about 30years old. I noticed last fall that the lower branches were starting to turn brown and ithad some white sap on the trunk. I shrugged it off at the time. I really got alarmed when spring came and about 3/4th of the tree was brown, and now all but the very tip is brown. I didn't want to cut it down ( I am hoping that what ever it is will go away) I read where other people are having the same problemtoo. Is my tree dying? What can I do to help it, if it's not too late. P.S. That monkey tree was only 3 ft high when I first saw it - and was one of the main reasons why I bought my house!
At least in our area, it's so rare to see any get very old. Many start to do the same thing and croak, at near the same size - maybe 40'. I've been here for 40 years, and not one old tree comes to mind that I could take someone to see. There are a couple I'm sure, but I'd have to drive in Portland for hours to spot one, if at all.
It is normal for the lower branches to die off and drop, leaving a bare trunk. This happens even with perfectly healthy trees in the wild: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_6492_monkey_puzzle.JPG There is only a problem if the die-off reaches the top of the tree so there are no green branches left.
Sounds like they have a problem then, since only the tip has some green. I've never talked to someone who has removed a big one before. I know they are sharp to handle the branches, but I can't even imagine what a removal is like.
Many local communities have landmark monkey trees that date from quite some time ago. Thriving in the mild Pacific Northwest better than anywhere else in North America, our most common South American tree is well known because of its distinctive appearance... ...usually seen no more than 70' x 9 1/2', and in Seattle not quite that big yet --Jacobson, Trees of Seattle - Second Edition One I measured in Aberdeen, WA during 1993 had a trunk 10' 2" around. Another, in Bremerton, WA was 72' tall in 1988. See Van Pelt, Champion Trees of Washington State (1996, University of Washington Press, Seattle). The Timber Press book Trees of Greater Portland would be likely to have locations for some big ones there.
