Cedar Tree question

[Randy Dandy]

We have some young eastern red cedar trees getting some brown/dying limbs.
This problem is not from stray male dogs as it may appear.
Can someone identify the problem ?
Do we need to spray ?

[Fonzie]

Could it be the beginning of a rust disease ?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/pdf/3055.pdf



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[wally]

Why are you wanting to help these trees ?? wind break ?, in kansas we kill as many as we can

[Cascade Failure]

Originally Posted by wally

Why are you wanting to help these trees ?? wind break ?, in kansas we kill as many as we can

I'm not familiar with the Kansas tree mix. Why would you want to kill them off?

[Allen W]

Originally Posted by Cascade Failure

I'm not familiar with the Kansas tree mix. Why would you want to kill them off?

water sucking, land consuming, invasive, burn like a barrel of gas, I'm sure there more reasons to kill every one of them but these are the first that come to mind.

[Randy Dandy]

We are using these trees as a wind break and for privacy.
We would like to save these trees if someone might know the problem.

[COWS]

I don't know what that is, but you have a small amount and it may be helpful to prune the dead branches.

For those in Kansas, they do make good fence posts since they resist decay. The wood is too weak to use as structual material. If they get big enough to saw for lumber they make beautiful blanket chests because the cedar oil repels moths.

COWS

[Randy Dandy]

Originally Posted by COWS

I don't know what that is, but you have a small amount and it may be helpful to prune the dead branches.

For those in Kansas, they do make good fence posts since they resist decay. The wood is too weak to use as structual material. If they get big enough to saw for lumber they make beautiful blanket chests because the cedar oil repels moths.

COWS

Sounds like some great advice.
Thanks for the help.

[Allen W]

Originally Posted by COWS

For those in Kansas, they do make good fence posts since they resist decay. The wood is too weak to use as structual material. If they get big enough to saw for lumber they make beautiful blanket chests because the cedar oil repels moths.

COWS

The only cedar that make good post around here come from a canyon where they grow tall and straight and have a deep red color with almost no white on the outside.

There have been several major prairie fires around here in the last five years. Any where the cedars have been wiped out in a large area there are now springs and streams running that haven't been seen in years.

Eastern Red Cedars are an invasive tree in the native prairie grass ecosystem of this area.

[geo in mi]

Freezer burn? How cold did it get and for how long?

geo

[arcticow]

I'd say cold damage as well, doesn't look that much like rust...

[okiemom]

they cause most of the allergies around here. very very allergic. yikes. they are very flammable not to be anywhere near a building. Oklahoma burned a few years ago and the trees made it so much worse. other than that I love anything evergreen and wind blocks are so needed here.

[COWS]

Haven't noticed them takingup an excesive amount of moisture here in the east, but generally we get adequate rainfall. They do burn like crazy, the needles and small branches especially. However, pine trees do the same.

Cedars will spread seriously, along with other trees. Some trees, like maples, have seeds that are carried by the wind. Cedars produce huge amounts of seed in the form of little hard berries. Birds eat them, will sit in other trees or on a fence for a bathroom brake, and deposit the seed which the digestive system of the bird has taken the outer covering off so the seed can sprout. Lots of cedars along fence rows here, usually too many branches on them to make good fence posts.



COWS

[Filson]

The dying top of that one concerns me. I'm not sure what it could be, as I don't know much about the area you live in.

Growing up in the Puget Sound, Cedars where a very common (and prized) tree, and brown/dying branches down low, was extremely common. It also wasn't uncommon to see mature trees with little spots of brown tipped branches all over certain times of the year. Not sure if that's natural or what, but it was a very common sight.

I would try to trim the dead branches and just see what happens. Also, use common sense about keeping lawn fertilizer and other things at bay a bit.

As for the one with the dying top... I'd probably assume it'll need to be replaced, but I'm not an expert or anything.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Pig in a poke]

Not sure cedar rust effects the cedar, rather the apple or hawthorn tree that is sharing the burden of the fungus cycle. Do you have these trees in the vicinity? You can treat them for rust.
There is a disease with a similar appearance that is currently spreading among Leyland cypress trees. I have not heard of it effecting cedars. (Different genus, but same family, though.)
Cedar-haters, these trees provide shade, windbreak, and evergreen landscaping. I can't imagine they suck up any more water than the massive oaks, or towering hickories or walnuts we also have growing here. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Nature_Lover]

You might want to examine the stems at the point of death to see if you can find bugs or fungus.

It might be the blight.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fi.../phomopsis.htm

Or a number of other causes:
"Several insects damage eastern redcedar trees but rarely cause serious permanent damage (5). Roots of seedlings are very susceptible to attack by nematodes and grubs. The foliage is eaten by bagworms (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis) and spruce spider mites (Oligonychus ununguis), both of which can completely defoliate trees. The eastern juniper bark beetle (Phloeosinus dentatus) attacks the species but usually does not kill trees except when the attack is associated with the root rot fungus, Heterobasidion annosum. Another bark beetle (Phloeosinus canadensis) may feed on eastern redcedar. Several boring insects, including the black-horned juniper borer (Callidium texanum), cedartree borer (Semanotus ligneus), cypress and cedar borer (Oeme rigida), and pales weevil (Hylobius pales) will attack eastern redcedar. The juniper midge (Contarinia juniperina) is a gall insect pest of redcedar which bores into the twigs at the base of needles and kills the portion beyond the entrance hole. In addition to pales weevil, two other weevils, the arborvitae weevil (Phyllobius intrusus) and the strawberry root weevil (Otiorhynchus ovatus), feed on roots of eastern redcedar. The latter two weevils are also leaf feeders, along with the juniper webworm (Dichomeris marginella); a wax moth (Coleotechnites juniperella); a leaf roller (Choristoneura houstonana), a pest of windbreak and ornamental plantings; and a sawfly (Monoctenus melliceps). The Fletcher scale (Lecanium fletcheri) and juniper scale (Carulaspis juniperi) are two other commonly occurring insects that attack junipers.

Eastern redcedar, especially when weakened by stress or insects, is very susceptible to damage by the root rot fungus, Heterobasidion annosum. This disease is thought to cause the greatest damage over much of its range. Cubical rot fungi (Fomes subroseus and Daedalea juniperina) and juniper pocket rot fungus (Pyrofomes demidoffii) enter eastern redcedars through dead branch stubs and attack the heartwood. Several other minor heart-rot fungi infect eastern redcedar (21).

The major stem and foliage diseases of eastern redcedar are fungi known as cedar rusts in the genus Gymnosporangium. The most commonly known and widely spread species is cedar apple rust (G. juniperi-virginianae), which attacks trees in all stages of development. Because it is an alternate host to this disease, the presence of redcedar is a problem to apple growers. Other common species are G. clavipes, G. globosum, G. effusum, and G. nidus-avis. The latter fungus is widely distributed and produces witches' brooms (21). Important foliage diseases include Phomopsis blight (Phomopsis juniperovora) and Cercospora sequoiae blight, which also attack seedlings. Phomopsis blight has been difficult to control in nurseries, but newer developments show promise (12,32). Both blights can cause major losses to eastern redcedar in the field, but Phomopsis blight is not a serious problem after seedlings reach age 4."

copied from this page... http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics...virginiana.htm

[Dixie Bee Acres]

Those trees use to grow by the thousands in every ditch and pasture around here, but i haven't seen near as many in past few years. I keep planning on keeping a shovel in my truck to dig some up whenever I see a few growing....before they get mowed over.
The north side of my property boarders an interstate highway, i want to plant some of those along the fenceline as a windbreak and noise baffle.

[Horseyrider]

Around here, the damage is severe and due to extreme cold this past winter. The really weird looking ones are the ones that were up to one third deep in snowdrifts. The bottom is beautiful green, and the top two thirds are brown and dessicated. Just like they were dipped in paint.

[collegeboundgal]

I'm currently in the process of clearing my property of them in the fields. darn things dang near took over when the fields didn't get brush hogged (dad got to old/unable) for a few years.

[arcticow]

Originally Posted by Pig in a poke

Not sure cedar rust effects the cedar, rather the apple or hawthorn tree that is sharing the burden of the fungus cycle. Do you have these trees in the vicinity? You can treat them for rust.
There is a disease with a similar appearance that is currently spreading among Leyland cypress trees. I have not heard of it effecting cedars. (Different genus, but same family, though.)
Cedar-haters, these trees provide shade, windbreak, and evergreen landscaping. I can't imagine they suck up any more water than the massive oaks, or towering hickories or walnuts we also have growing here. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There aren't many towering hickories or massive oaks on the prairie, and the further west the less rainfall... The amount of water a pasture full of cedars uses compared to grass is very significant. Not unusual for old springs and creeks to flow again when cedars are eliminated...