Hi all, This is my pine tree planted in my lawn. There are white and yellowish growths on the bark and on the needles. About one fourth of the needles are dead brown. And some portion of the bark fell off. This has been going on for some time, but I only discovered recently that it is pretty serious. One of the growth has shedded bug skins on it as you can see from the photo, though I'm not sure if that is the cause of the problem, or one of the secondary infections. Could you please advise what I should do to treat it and save my tree. Thank you. Sorry I took a lot of pictures.. http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000289_zps345d21fb.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000290_zpsb8e9dac9.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000291_zpsa908c416.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000292_zpscb4e488b.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000293_zpsb5cb0cbd.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000294_zps766975cb.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000295_zpsc219d36b.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000296_zps469789db.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000297_zpsae55ad1b.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000298_zpsfce402d2.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000300_zpsc9924ab3.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000301_zpsd3513a2a.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000302_zps2e1f6886.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000303_zps7062c136.jpg
Pine trees can be messy. I don't recommend planting them in any high profile areas of a landscape. What I am seeing from your pictures is abiotic stress. Possible lawn mower damage to the bole, previous poor pruning cuts, heat transfer from the sidewalk and blacktop etc. Some kind of a bark boring beetle has entered the cambium and they are feasting. These insects are attracted by the trees stress signal. The white stuff is mainly pitch and insect frass that exudes from the entrance hole and the canals that they create. It's a defense mechanism from the tree. I don't see the top of the tree to determine it's overall health. It seems to have goot trunk taper. Perhaps call a local ISA Certified Arborist to prune for aesthetics and determine in person, if there are any problems. Keep the tree well watered during the summer.
thank you very much for the detailed response! i really appreciate it. my tree has been growing (more like unbalanced tilting) towards my house so they pruned some of the branches on that side one or two months ago, which might have damaged it. the top of the tree looks normal i think. i'll try to take more pictures this week. i'll water my tree more. i decreased the amount of watering a while ago as i thought the white stuff was some kind of mold. now i only provide barely the amount of water that keeps my lawn green. should i avoid getting the bark and the beetle infected part wet while watering?
uploaded more pictures. the side where it is dying :( http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000335_zps72c70898.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000333_zpsfe8bac3e.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000332_zps6546887f.jpg http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/yinhh/WP_000331_zpseba1f1a9.jpg
