Diseased tulip poplar

[illini81]

I have a stand of six very tall (maybe 75 ft) Tulip Poplar trees. Several of them have some sort of black fungus or mold on the trunk (see pic). The largest tree appears to be dead – it has a very small number of leaves, but for the most part it is bare (the others have leaves).

Any idea what could have killed it? I want to do what I can to prevent the other trees from dying. They are between my house and powerlines, and several of them lean towards my house…

I have some ACECAP insecticide capsules that I used this year on several oak trees that got decimated by gypsy moths last year. Is there any chance that these capsules might help the Tulip trees? I need to make a decision on whether to use them soon, because I guess they're most effective when installed in the Spring while the trees are leafing.

I tried posting this question on an arborist forum, but haven't gotten much specific help yet, so I figured I'd reach out here. Seem to be people on here who know a lot about trees!


Andrew

 

[zrock]

Time to get rid of them especially if they are within falling distance of your lines or home. Its very common for them to look green and healthy but snap off as the inside is rotted right out. Usually its the top 20 ft or so that come down first

 

[illini81]

I realize that the dead one needs to come down. My question though is whether it is possible to prevent the others from dying. It is not at all clear from my pictures, but the other five trees have all of their leaves. Some of them do have the same black mold looking stuff on their trunks that the dead one has.

 

[zrock]

They can look healthy but like I said it's quite common for them to come down as the centers are rotten and no holding wood. You cannot tell just by looking. U take a chance and leave them and hope for the best. Or live safe and get rid of them.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[illini81]

Gotcha. Thanks. If I take that approach though... I'll have to take down a ton of trees. I have lots of trees within striking distance of our house. Decisions, decisions...