Pine tree keep dying

 Hi

I have (or had) five pine trees (and another 20 as a fence).  Two years
ago one of the pine tree's leaves started to go brown and then 6months
later was completly dead (it was around apx 10-12 years old), I then
chopped it down.  Then last year the one next to it did the same thing
and yet again it is dead.  I have two others next to it but, touch wood
(forgive the pun), they are OK.
An additional fact is that squirals have nexted in them, but squirrals
have been around for years as I live backed on to a park.

The tree up to and at the point of dying look ok.  Bark was find not
signs of mold/fungus.  However, after one did hugh amounts of scary
looking mushrooms grew.

Can anyone suggest what may be causing this?

WayneL

 
Two questions:

1) Where do you live?

2) Have you called your state's cooperative extension service?

 Call your extension agent as there are any number of things that could be
killing the trees.  There could be a particular pest (pitch moth can be
troublesome in areas), or the trees just might not be right for the area.  I
have about 30 scots pines that are all eventually going to die because they
simply are not right for the site.  They are stressed sufficiently to allow
other problems to take hold.  About 1-2 die each year (they are about 25
tall) so I've dealt with the problem by interplanting doug firs.

 For a better guess, I'd need to know where you are at (state,
elevation, climate).

It would also help to know what pine species you have.

As for fungi, there is often a magnificent flush (fruiting) of fungi,
including mycorrhizal fungi (beneficial to the tree) at the end of a
tree's life. Sometimes the fungi is the cause of the death, sometimes
it is merely the fungi's attempt to disperse.

One of the scariest fungi I know of is Pisolithus tinctorius, aka
Dye-Maker's Puffball. This is an important widely-mycorrhizal species
beneficial to almost any tree it associates with. Try doing a Google
image search to see more of it.

Far more fungi are beneficial to trees than harmful to them. But
without more exact information, it is impossible to guess what fungi
were involved.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com

 For a better guess, I'd need to know where you are at (state,
elevation, climate).

It would also help to know what pine species you have.

As for fungi, there is often a magnificent flush (fruiting) of fungi,
including mycorrhizal fungi (beneficial to the tree) at the end of a
tree's life. Sometimes the fungi is the cause of the death, sometimes
it is merely the fungi's attempt to disperse.

One of the scariest fungi I know of is Pisolithus tinctorius, aka
Dye-Maker's Puffball. This is an important widely-mycorrhizal species
beneficial to almost any tree it associates with. Try doing a Google
image search to see more of it.

Far more fungi are beneficial to trees than harmful to them. But
without more exact information, it is impossible to guess what fungi
were involved.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com