Please ID these trees, need help to find out why they're dying

April 30, 2018 8:13 AM

Neighbors and I share a bank of evergreen trees. All of theirs have died, and whatever is killing them is spreading to our trees. Pics (2nd and 4th pics show the dead trees on the left).

We moved to our current house at the end of 2016. Last spring we noticed a few dead trees in the neighbor's part of a big grove of trees that covers parts of both of our properties. This spring, all of the trees on their side are dead or dying. We would like to find out asap what kind of tree this is, and what's wrong with it, so we can save our side. We also have two more banks of trees like this, both are still very healthy and we would like to keep it that way. Neighbors don't seem to care and are not treating their trees. Thanks for any help at all, even just knowing specifically what this tree is will help me to google possible causes.

posted by the webmistress to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Best answer: Looks like a type of cedar?

This kind of problem is exactly why extension services exist. Here's one for New Jersey. They will know the most likely cause of cedar tree deaths, and whether your trees are cedars.

You might want to go look around under the bark of a dying tree to look for beetles. They are a problem for pine trees, I know. It looks like there's a borer beetle that attacks cedars known in the western US, not sure about your area. However, just looking more closely at the trees for symptoms (are the needles drying out/falling off? Are there other insects evident? Is something weird going on with the soil? Are they dying from the bottom or the top?) will be helpful when talking to the extension agent.
posted by amtho at 8:24 AM on April 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Telling us where you are in the world would help ID them. They look like Eastern red cedars (which are actually junipers) to me.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:25 AM on April 30, 2018 [3 favorites]

That reddening is something I associate with mountain pine beetle. It looks like a relative is present in New Jersey.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:27 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We live in New Jersey - ugh should have mentioned that. Following these leads already, thank you!
posted by the webmistress at 8:30 AM on April 30, 2018

Digging in to Amtho's recommendation of cedar, Atlantic White Cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides seems to fit the bill based on your pictures and location.

The species is decribed as pest and disease resistant, only needing damp to boggy conditions and acidic soil.
posted by cardboard at 9:34 AM on April 30, 2018

I'm going with red cedar, based on the reddish bark in the photo. This blog post talks about a similar issue in NJ - looks like not a disease, but rather soil/temp/moisture issue. There is a disease that kills cedars called Cedar-apple rust, but it causes galls to develop that are very noticeable.
posted by Toddles at 10:24 AM on April 30, 2018

Response by poster: Thank you all, especially amtho. We called and are bringing samples and pics to the Rutgers Master Gardener Helpline location, where there are botanists and gardeners who will study and hopefully diagnose the problem. It seems they think, just from a short phone call, that it's a fungus or root rot. But beetles aren't off the table ;) Thanks again!
posted by the webmistress at 11:47 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

So, was there something weird going on with the soil?
posted by amtho at 12:26 PM on April 30, 2018

Response by poster: I don't know yet, it looks fine? I will do a follow-up tomorrow in case anyone else has issues.
posted by the webmistress at 3:15 PM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'd also hazard that maybe these have reached the end of their lifecycle? I live in a neighborhood that was built about 27-28 years ago. A lot of scrub pine and cedar grew up after the slash-and-burn tactic of clearing space for a new development. A lot of these are now being blown over or look like they're dead in the last 3-4 years.

Just a thought...
posted by kuanes at 5:06 AM on May 1, 2018

Response by poster: Very possible, kuanes. The master gardener and the arborist at Rutgers couldn't really help. They suggested end of life, midges, two types of blight, and beetles. They did helpfully suggest sending samples and pics off to a lab that they recommend, but I don't want to wait several weeks. So basically we still know nothing. I've asked a local tree service with a great online rep and good reviews to come look this Friday. They do disease diagnostics so hopefully they can help if it is, in fact, something that can be treated. But as you say, it may be that they're at the end of their life cycle.
posted by the webmistress at 2:27 PM on May 1, 2018