Saving burnt pine tree

[Robin Henderson]

Hi,

I have some tall pine trees (the skinny pointy type, about 2.5 to 3 storeys
tall) and one of them recently caught a fire and most of the leaves were burnt
off.

The main trunk of the burnt tree is still there (but charred), although most
of the leaves have fallen off, except for a small amount (slightly less than
half a square metre) near the bottom of the tree which is still green.

So I was wondering if the tree can still be rescued. I've been giving it
plenty of water (when I remember :) daily, although I'm not sure whether it's
helping because I haven't seen any improvements (no new shoots of leaves, but
the tuft of green leaves are still there at the bottom).

So can it still be rescued? What can I do to help it grow back? We really like
the tree and prefer not to have to remove it if we can ...

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Best regards

Robin

[Andrew G]

"Robin Henderson" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I have some tall pine trees (the skinny pointy type, about 2.5 to 3
storeys
> tall) and one of them recently caught a fire and most of the leaves were
burnt
> off.
>
> The main trunk of the burnt tree is still there (but charred), although
most
> of the leaves have fallen off, except for a small amount (slightly less
than
> half a square metre) near the bottom of the tree which is still green.
>
> So I was wondering if the tree can still be rescued. I've been giving it
> plenty of water (when I remember :) daily, although I'm not sure whether
it's
> helping because I haven't seen any improvements (no new shoots of leaves,
but
> the tuft of green leaves are still there at the bottom).
>
> So can it still be rescued? What can I do to help it grow back? We really
like
> the tree and prefer not to have to remove it if we can ...
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
>
> Best regards
>
> Robin
>

If possible using a long pole or something, break off a small branch (even
small, as thick as your finger) up as high as you can. Also, try to get one
that isn't burnt.
If it's green then the tree has a pretty good chance of survival. Even if
it's dead there still could be hope.
Anyway, just keep going with the watering. Don't over water, just enough to
keep the soil around it moist, with the usual less frequent deep waterings.
Being an advanced tree, the roots will be well down.
Hopefully that will bring it along.
Sorry, I probably haven't really helped too much, just re-inforcing what you
are doing :-)

--
Remove "not" from start of email address to reply

[Jane VR]

Robin Henderson wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have some tall pine trees (the skinny pointy type, about 2.5 to 3
> storeys
> tall) and one of them recently caught a fire and most of the leaves
> were burnt
> off.
>
> The main trunk of the burnt tree is still there (but charred),
> although most
> of the leaves have fallen off, except for a small amount (slightly
> less than
> half a square metre) near the bottom of the tree which is still green.
>
> So I was wondering if the tree can still be rescued. I've been giving it
> plenty of water (when I remember :) daily, although I'm not sure
> whether it's
> helping because I haven't seen any improvements (no new shoots of
> leaves, but
> the tuft of green leaves are still there at the bottom).
>
> So can it still be rescued? What can I do to help it grow back? We
> really like
> the tree and prefer not to have to remove it if we can ...
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
>
> Best regards
>
> Robin
>
>
Sorry to be bringing bad news.

Pine trees don't regenerate too well. It sounds like the top was burnt?
If so, it won't grow any more. Even if it does, the leafless places
won't regrow. If you look at pine trees in gardens, you'll sometimes see
a dead patch somewhere on them. The leaves just don't grow back.


Jane