Hello all, 12 years ago I purchased a home in Newberg Oregon (about 20 miles west of Portland), and the pride & joy of this home is a very large mature Monkey Puzzle tree in the front yard. About 3 weeks ago (after having been gone for about 10 days) I returned home and noticed that the lower branches and interior branches were unusually brown. So much so that I felt compelled to go to the nursery (I took a branch sample also) and discuss the matter with them. They defined the problem as "spider mites" and suggested the following; 1) Trim out the lower / dead branches (rented a 45 foot lift truck which was about 10 feet short of reaching the top...) - done - 2) Apply a systemic pesticide to the base of the trunk (a product from Bayer) - done - 3) Apply a topical prodcut to kill any of the live "spider mites" (used a product called TalstarOne) - done - 4) Applied nitrogen to the dripline area of the tree & water throughly over the following coupld of weeks - done - My concern is that the tree "appears" to be holding its own, however in the 3&1/2 weeks since I have performed this work there has still been a bit of "browning" that has occured... Hence my concern... What can I do further...??? Thank you very much for your time !
If it was the interior where the discolor was, it's doubtful it was spider mites, likely just the yearly shedding and aging of interior foliage as the trunks and wood increases girth. You didn't get the lift trailer from Sherwood rental - $125 per day? Reaches about 40'. I'm not real big on fertilizer. Click my "site link" and look in my menu on feeding trees - then in Advice and read the assorted tree care ideas. Random. If it fits, use it. Most people find something of use.
Maybe it's nothing to worry about... Browning of the old interior foliage can be quite normal. Monkey Puzzle trees keep their foliage for a long, long time, but not forever! I think our recent unusually hot summer weather may be a factor. While the Monkey Puzzle is quite capable of fending for itself without extra water once mature, perhaps your tree is showing a bit of stress? Have any changes been made near its root run? For example, new driveway, new construction, drainage or piping installation, new lawn installed ... - anything that could sever roots, or affect the water table of the soil? While the disturbance may have ocurred months ago, you might not see any symptoms until the tree is stressed by other factors, such as by prolonged hot, dry weather. Probe around the tree's drip line to see if the soil is very dry. Perhaps all it needs is a soaker hose placed around it for several days. Hope this helps.
50-year-old tree In the wild there is often a long, bare trunk with a small crown at the top, in the manner of a palm tree, so if the remaining branches of your specimen remain green it will merely look as it might in nature.
For the rest of the users - I ended up being contacted and went to see this tree. It happened to have a girdling root that killed the tree. This shows why it's so much easier to get an arborist out in the first place. It would not have saved the tree but would have eliminated many steps of the process of trying to save an unsalvageable tree. What is very nice on the property and healthy is a massive live canyon oak which are not commonly native to the area (Newberg, Oregon). The oak must have been planted late 1800s.
