Xtremehorticulture

Pine Tree Dripping Sap from Holes

Q. I have a one-acre lot
in east Las Vegas with large pine trees. One of the trees recently started dripping
lots and lots of sap. Upon inspection, we found some horizontal lines of holes
in the bark.  Other areas the sap is just
dripping from the natural seams of the bark. 
I looked online and it suggests a bird rather than a borer if the holes
are in lines. Are there woodpeckers in Las Vegas?
A. Yes, we have the
yellow-bellied sapsucker here which is in the family of woodpeckers. They cause
the kind of damage you are seeing and drill holes in horizontal lines which can
drip sap. It looks a little bit like someone took a drill and drilled holes in
the tree close together and in a straight line.

There
is not much you can do except to try to exclude these birds from the trunk
which is difficult. The good news is that these trees can live many years with this
type of damage from this bird if the tree is healthy and growing.

Big
pine trees use a lot of water so make sure yours is receiving enough water in
the spring and summer months so that it will grow enough and recover from the
damage.

If
damaged trees do not grow enough to recover from the bird damage then it can be
a problem for the tree. 

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