Actually now that you mention it, the tree is right along a road which
was salted during the winter. It was actually a very snowy winter and
the town uses a water salt solution on the roads. The other pine tree
which is doing fine is further away from the road. Now saying that,
is the salt a problem or will it eventually work it's way out? Is
there some way to test for the amount of salt in the dirt? The brown
needles are spreading throughout the tree and are not just localized
to the top branches. The tree is actually twice the size of a street
telephone poll, so removall would be a very large problem.


(Marley1372) wrote in message ...
I would like to say something here. You should not ever diagnose a plant
disease or insect over the internet without seeing a picture. Its preferable
to see the whole plant or at least a physical sample. With that said, "brown
needles" is an extremely non specific symptom and could be caused by a number
of things. A top branch could have been broken partially in a windstorm and
died. Could be a borer. Could be white pine weevil. Maybe the tree is near a
road that is heavily salted in the wintertime. To the original poster: If
your trees are of value, hire a professional to diagnose your problem. I would
not reccomend blindly using a bunch of chemicals based on a guess made by
someone who has no knowledge of the site and hasnt seen the tree.

Toad