Q: My pine tree is not doing well. I was wondering if pine beetles causing the problem.
A: I looked at your tree and I saw no sign of bark beetles. The signs to look for are red-boring dust on the bark, exit holes in the bark, and overall discoloration of the needles from green to a straw color. While your tree does show some dead needles, it doesn’t show the widespread discoloration typically seen on trees with beetle infestations. The tree appears to be too dry and I couldn’t tell if the soaker hose nearby is functioning or not. If not, that would be a good thing to fix and put on a schedule either manually or with a drip irrigation controller using the schedule describe above in the citrus question.
Peter L. Warren is the urban horticulture agent for the Pima County Cooperative Extension and the University of Arizona. Email questions to
