I have two fairly young hemlock trees (planted 3 yrs. ago) and there is something growing on the branches this spring that seems to be choking off existing needles and preventing new growth. Looks to be lichen, not sure, but it is definitely hurting the tree. Maybe that is what lichen does? Is there something that can be sprayed on the tree to help fight this off?
I will attach another pic or two. Hard to get good focus with my I-Phone so I may have to get out the camera. See what you think of these.
Sorry but these aren't very clear either. Tomorrow I will get out the Nikon and see if we can get a better look for you. And thank you for your replies.
It does look more like lichen in the new photos. Lichen doesn't harm trees, but it does develop more readily in trees where the growth is poor for other reasons (as thin foliage allows more light to reach the lichen).
These pictures show our young hemlock tree today, which we posted about last year, but has now succumbed to whatever was growing on it. My earlier post raised the question of a fungus vs. lichen and it seemed to be agreed it was lichen which didn't sound too ominous. But I didn't think lichen would kill the tree, which it certainly has done, rather effectively over about a two year period. So I am wondering if someone can revisit the issue to see if this is something to be more concerned about. A second young hemlock about thirty feet away is also struggling and appears to be headed in the same direction.
To me it looks like both, insects (Hemlock woolly adelgid) on some branches on previous year pictures, lichens on others. You will find info about the insect, and what to do about it, here https://www.invasiveinsects.ca/hwa/hwa.html
Thanks for the feedback. I really don't think it is due to the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, as the link provided says the white wooly coverings would be found on the underside of the twigs and branches. There are no white wooly coverings like those anywhere on our hemlock, nor have we seen any insects. It does seem to be lichen, but it totally sucked the life out of the tree. As a matter of fact, even though the tree is now dead, the lichen still looks the same.
The lichen was symptomatic of slow growth on the plant. It doesn't kill trees. There was another cause.
I agree, there had to be another cause. The tree never did grow much after I bought it from NALT's native tree nursery three or four years ago. But whatever it is, it can't be anything too wide-ranging, as our newish Western Red Cedars close by are doing very well, as is a lovely Maple tree, which is only about six years old. Must be something quite specific to the hemlocks. Perhaps they need a lot more help than we realized. I thought since they were native it would do just fine without a bunch of additional nourishment etc. but it would seem it did need a boost of something which sadly, we never provided.
I am not trying to convince you that it was Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, just a remark that the insects, being only 0.8 mm in length (looking like a dot on a sheet of paper), may be difficult to observe. On the other hand, aren't they quite specific to the Hemlocks?
Well you said it looked like both, so I am just trying to substantiate the presence of Wooly Adelgid, and I just don't see it. As you said, the insects would be small and hard to see, but the white wooly growth should be visible and its just not there, only the lichen.
I would think they would have moved along after their food source died, but I don't know their behaviour.
