Pines
Japanese Black Pines
The north end of Long Beach Island is densely planted with Japanese Black Pines. These non-native trees are constantly exposed to salt spray, but they thrive in the sandy coastal environment where many other native species struggle. Homeowners have come to rely on them to stabilize the land, act as a windbreak and privacy barrier, and provide some shade on their properties.
Over the past 5 years we have seen Black Pines rapidly decline due to these pests:
pinewood Nematode
Pinewood Nematodes invade Japanese Black Pines and other susceptible pine species from the vector insect Pine Sawyer Beetles. They feed on the circulatory system of the tree and cause branch die back, weakening and sometimes killing the tree.
Engraver Beetles
There are 3 varieties of beetle attacking pine forests in New Jersey. Generally they attack trees that are under other kinds of environmental stress or weakened by other pests or diseases, but healthy trees can also be infested.
"Blue Stain" Fungus
Beetles carry the fungi Leptographium terebrantis and L. procerum when they attack a pine. This disease clogs the circulatory system of the tree and can be even more effective at killing stands of pines than the beetles.
This disease is changing the landscape of Long Beach Island. Japanese Black Pine seedlings were distributed to reforest Long Beach Island after the Great Storm of 1962. They were an effective solution to stabilize the dunes and have contributed to many homeowners’ gardens over the past 50 years and are now a staple of the landscape.
The fatal pests for Japanese Black Pines begin their infestation on weakened trees. Maintaining vigor with fertilization and protecting them from superficial damage by scale and other foliage-damaging pests can help extend the life of the trees.
We did offer a systemic trunk injection treatment to protect healthy pines from these pests, but it is not cost-effective, and we found that some pines that were not obviously infected still died. We do offer a trunk spray program that seems to help repel these insects and make them less like to invade trees. This can be an option to slow the decline of the trees, but they will eventually be replaced by other salt-tolerant species in the coming decades. We recommend Eastern Red Cedar as an alternative when it is time remove and replace them. This attractive native species is not susceptible to these pests.
Click here to request an estimate. We will inspect your property and make cost-effective recommendations to protect your landscape and ensure that it will be sustainable into the future.