Posted by patsy deemer on July 15, 2005

Q: We moved to a place that has mostly white pines. We had to cut some down. I trimmed some in the front yard up about six branches. Now some of them are turning yellow and dyeing.I there anything i can do to stop from dyeing. Also in the early spring some of them have white on the trunks,from bottom to about middle ways up.What is this? We live in southern Ohio,scioto county.Would appreciate any help you could give. Thank-You, Patsy

Habitat: forest/open woods

State: Ohio

Habitat: forest/open woods

A: Although pines have leaves (needles) all year long, they do lose their leaves, they just do so slowly. At this time of year you shouldn't be having the older needles dying yet so the yellowing of your needles is not a good sign. I'm quite sure the trimming you've done has not had any negative effect on your trees however. The White Pine needs good sun for a healthy tree so if your trees are shaded, this may account for some/all of your yellowing but I can't say for sure. Branches that do not get adequate sun (often the lower and inner branches) will have less vigorous needle growth and eventually those branches will die. As you probably already know, the upper part of the tree is the most vigorous portion (this is called being apically dominant).

As to the white on the trunks, I'm quite sure you had a slime mold there. This is a harmless kind of fungus that gets established in humid weather. As the weather drys, the slime mold goes into its reproductive phase (they produce spores) and is then less obvious and eventually gone. Slime molds are very interesting organisms that are not well understood. Don't worry about them on your trees, in terms of damage, but I must admit they don't look so nice.

Hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( July 16, 2005)