hello. we are in yamhill county with a newberg address. on 5 acres of land, sloped but flat. bigleaf maples, oak and many doug firs. second growth,...
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douglas fir damage #818005
Asked January 02, 2023, 11:42 PM EST
hello. we are in yamhill county with a newberg address. on 5 acres of land, sloped but flat. bigleaf maples, oak and many doug firs. second growth, maybe third growth. noticed several doug firs with sap/resin flows, starting about 10 feet up from the ground. no obvious needle death, tops of trees look healthy. we are in forest deferment with yamhill county for tax purposes, just to let you know about tree density. i was out today cutting some english ivy (!!!) from the trunks of a few trees, and noted bark damage as photographed. i at first thought this was related to the ivy, but then saw that it was not. several fir trees with ivy that i was working on had normal looking bark despite the ivy. at one point i looked down on my coat sleeve and saw the insect pictured, not sure if it is an innocent bystander. the third photo is a nearby tree with holes starting near the ground, again, in looking up, the tree top looks healthy. any help you can offer would be great. thanks very much
Yamhill CountyOregon
Expert Response
Hi Ronald,
Thanks for your question. Also, thanks for including photos; very helpful!
Trees with copious amounts of resinous can often be alarming, but it sounds like your trees are healthy, and there is not much cause for concern now. It may be a root disease issue if you start seeing needle dieback, especially from the top of the tree heading downward.
The insect pictured is the western conifer seed bug. As its name implies, the western conifer seed bug feeds on the seeds and cones of western conifer species. This insect is also not a cause for concern.
The holes and damage in the bark could be several things. The first thing that comes to mind is a sapsucker, a woodpecker-like bird.
thanks so much for reaching out concerning our questions. i am sorry for my delay in thanking you for taking your time to respond. is it usually a fair statement to make that if the crown of the doug firs look good, ie no needle drop or yellowing, then any issue i am looking at concerning the bark is just local trauma (like the sapsucker) and not to be too worried about? thx again, very much
