Knowledgebase
Tree Deaths (fruit) #870823
Asked May 30, 2024, 4:53 PM EDT
I have had some trees die on me since last fall. The were a Pear, Crab Apple, and an Apple (don't remember the variety) They were all healthy throughout the season, produced fruit,
The Crab Apple: seemed OK throughout the summer, later in the season a few branches just died, and didn't drop their leaves. I trimmed the branches off probably in October. by this spring the tree was dead, very few green branches. 10yrs old
The Pear: was my first season getting some fruit on it, but it was small and not very good. Also had a couple branches just up and die and not drop their leaves. The leaves also turned brown really early. I thought maybe it was the heat or something. This spring it looked like it was going to produce leaves, got buds, but never went any further. the branches were still green, but as you got closer to the trunk it just went dead. I noticed black discoloration in the branches as they got closer to the trunk. there were some small holes in the trunk 4-5 yrs old
The apple: had fruit last year, this year it had a few buds, but is just dead.10 years old (it needed pruning but with my trees acting weird I figured I would hold off on doing cutting, and yeah it was looking rough to begin with)
I'm hoping you can shed some light as to what may be the cause of this? seems like it may be coming from the roots looking at the way the death progressed. I am worried about other trees on my property and hoping to avoid future loss. I have cut down the trees and am planning on burning them
its really limited on how many pictures I can upload of decent quality. attached as many as I could of the pear. I can provide more of other trees if you need, but pear seemed to show things the best.
Dickinson County Michigan
Expert Response
I will refer your question to a fruit tree expert.
Can you add some more history? Don’t destroy the trees yet if possible; some examination of twigs and wood under the bark might be needed.
Were all the trees grown in the same part of the property?
Was the root zone flooded at any point over the last couple years?
Were there any chemicals sprayed or applied to the grass, to the weeds, to the trees, or to some other plants nearby in the last year?
Also, add pictures of the whole trees, or some of the leafed out branches. You can add 3 pictures per update. (so for 6 pictures, you would update your question adding 3, then go out, then come back in and update it again with 3 more).
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(forwarding to fruit tree expert)
Hi Laura,
It sounds like there may be a couple things going on here!
Issue ID:
In two of these pictures, I can see what looks like woodpecker or sapsucker damage on the pears. The birds drill fairly uniform holes into the tree in rows. Trees are essentially complex straws. If these holes disrupt the plants' xylem and phloem, they will become girdled and unable to move water up to branches. This could cause the sudden dieback of otherwise healthy branches. This kind of damage will also make trees more prone to winter injury.
Speaking of winter injury, it looks like Dickinson County got some historically low temperatures on January 15th, 2024. Typically apple buds are cold hardy, but they do have limits. This most likely killed the overwintering buds and could have damaged the trees as well. Unfortunately, there is not much to be done for this kind of damage. Apple trees are typically quite winter hardy, so they are a good fruit tree for Northern Michigan!
Going forward:
I would keep an eye out for areas of branches with cankers (discolored, sunken, warped or shredded bark) This would indicate disease present in the trees. I would then prune out any of these sections. It sounds like your crab apple may have gotten nectria twig blight last year. Here is an article on this disease: https://cals.cornell.edu/new-york-state-integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/fact-sheets/nectria-twig-blight. This would cause sudden dieback of shoots with the leaves hanging on still.
If you are still seeing woodpeckers/sap suckers around the area, you might consider protecting the trunks of other trees you value. You can wrap the trunks in a mesh cloth to deter pecking.
I would not worry deeply about this spreading to other trees on your property. If your soil has supported these trees for 10 years, then it's probably not the issue at hand. Also, plant diseases are typically species specific. Some could impact both pear and apple, but they are not likely to spread to other trees.
Best,
Didn't see any sap sucker holes on the crab apple or apple (or other trees in yard). Also didn't see any orange dots/fungus. Trees are all in the same basic area of the yard, within 50 to 100 feet of each other. There is a pond pretty close to them, I am sure the roots are down past where the water line is. The trees have been cut down and I am planning on burning them soon to prevent any disease they possibly may have from spreading. Trees were sprayed with a fruit tree spray maybe 2x. (bugs here are terrible) Attached the only picture I could find on my phone of the tree while it was standing. I had cut out the dead branches by then. it does show the proximity to the pond. The pear that died was at about the same elevation but probably 30-40 feet further away. The trees seemed very healthy one year, and just dead the next. I can take pictures of fruit trees that are still alive and some of the issues they are having if that would help at all.
Hi Philip,
Thanks for the update! Having the crab apple that close to water and pruning in the fall would both contribute to overall tree stress and make it more prone to winter injury. I would recommend pruning after mid January going forward.
I believe that some of your fruit trees were under more stress than others (old bird damage, "wet feet" near the pond, diseased, etc) which caused them to collapse during the very cold period this past January while other fruit trees survived.
I have attached an apple integrated pest management guide that might be handy for your management practices going forward.
Best,
