Q. I have a question about the health of my
nectarine tree. I had this tree planted 17 years ago and it
has thrived every year since…until this year. Normally it is totally covered
with blossoms and new growth. This year there are only a few scattered signs of
growth. Most of the tree is barren. What could cause this? Is the tree dying?
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| Nectarines are close relatives to peach. Peach and nectarine are short lived trees primarily because of borer problems in the Las Vegas valley. |
A. The
most common reason for sudden tree death is borers. Look for peeling or flaking
of the bark usually on the west or south side of the tree. They are actively
feeding on the trees right now but the dieback usually shows up when it gets
hot.
I see it is in the lawn. Other reasons can be damage to the trunk from
lawn mowers or line trimmers and then attack by borers. You might try a soil drench of a borer
control chemical from Bayer. Then the trunk needs to be protected from direct
sunlight. But if it is peach, that is pretty old for a peach tree. Anything
over 15 years old I consider old for peach due to borers. Peach or
nectarine. It’s the same DNA just the fuzz is missing. They live about the same
length of time.
If you use the Bayer
product you cannot eat the fruit from this tree until it is no longer applied.
It would have to be applied now.