Knowledgebase

Honey Locust - Disease #280463

Asked September 24, 2015, 4:19 PM EDT

I have a honey locust that has been having branches die off regularly over the last few years.  I have typically trimmed out the dead branches in the spring and fall, any time i trim a branch larger than about an inch I spray it with tar to seal it.  The tree has seemed somewhat normal over the 4 years that we have lived here.    However, the bark is now peeling away from the trunk and branches and turning red (see attached images).  Wasps are interested in the tree as well, not sure why.  Thoughts on what this is?

Additional considerations
- We had flooding a couple of years ago which may have hurt the tree as well.
- the adjacent tree (not sure type) has had some branches dying off throughout summer as well.  
- We have a tree in the rear yard that has had inner branches dying off as well while the outer canopy continues to remain healthy (it has aphids in it over the last few years)

Thanks for your time,



Boulder County Colorado

Expert Response

For a mature tree, some limb loss is normal.  Pruning of dead or damaged limbs can be done at any time during the year.  Pruning of healthy branch tissue should be done in late fall to early spring.  The use of tar to seal the wounds is not recommended.  You want the tree to heal the wound on its own.

Honey Locust trees can be affected by cankers or gummious.  Both normally attack distressed or damaged trees.  For cankers, you should be able to find fruiting bodies around a bark wound.  For gummious, you should see a amber goo seeping from the tree.  We did not see either from the pictures you provided.

The bark damage looks like something rubbed or scraped the bark of the tree. This could have been a squirrel.  We did not think this is related to the branch loss or the problem mentioned above.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied September 25, 2015, 11:54 AM EDT

Loading ...