Hi. We have a Monkey Puzzle Tree in our garden that must be 150 year old. It’s significantly taller than the house but also only about 5 meters from the house. We are worried that it’s either diseased or on its way out! It has been dropping a large amount of spines, after turning brown. There are a number of completely bare branches, and many more that are starting to drop. It also spreads to have some kind of thick moss/lichen looking growth near the upper branches, but due to its height, its very difficult to establish what exactly it is! Does anyone know why this could be? I’m concerned that if there is something wrong with it, it needs addressing quickly before it falls! Any help is greatly appreciated!
That does not look good. Do you have any photos from the side? Lichen growing on it is not a direct concern (the lichen isn't harming it).
It's normal for old specimens to end up with just a few branches at the top, they're often like that in the wild. It may well be on its way out with old age, nothing you can do to prevent that! File:Araucarias PN Conguillio.JPG - Wikimedia Commons File:Araucaria araucana vieja.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
