Pine tree lightning strike,

Dear Neil: I have a red maple that produced buds this spring, then stalled. The buds did not open up, and now the tree appears to be dead. The bark is split about 10 feet up the trunk. Is it possible that the tree is still alive? Should I give it more time to see if it might leaf out next spring?

Answer: I’d be interested in knowing if the split bark is on the west or southwest side. That is often the case after sunscald causes the bark on relatively young red maples to split vertically due to exposure to afternoon sun in the summer. It often doesn’t show up until the second or third, sometimes the fourth summer. The bark peels away and that side of the tree dies. Soon the entire tree is lost. Paper tree wrap applied at the time of planting from the ground up to the lowest branches will prevent that sort of damage. If it’s not sunscald I’m not sure what else it might be without seeing it, but since it has not put out any leaves this year, there is virtually no chance that it will do so next year. It sounds like it’s time to replace it. And by the way, this same sunscald hits red oaks, Chinquapin oaks and Chinese pistachios. All of these trees need to be wrapped to protect them from the sun’s scorching rays for their first couple of years.

Dear Neil: A large, beautiful pine was struck by lightning a year ago and is now totally brown. What can be done to save it? If nothing, how long before it falls?

Answer: It is lost. Unfortunately, pines have no means of sending out new growth when this happens. However, you don’t want to wait for a tree of that size to fall. Contact a certified arborist (who is insured and bonded) to do this work for you. There is too much danger of property loss and, more importantly, injury or death if this tree comes down in the wrong way or at the wrong time.

Dear Neil: I planted a Southern Bluebelle blueberry in April. In the past two weeks some of the leaves have turned brown. I planted it in a bagged potting mix “designed for shrubs.” I water it weekly for 20 minutes with the yard sprinkler and then once a week with a hose to keep it going. Our soil is dense clay. Is it possible that water is standing around the plant’s root system?

Answer: Any time you have tip-burn or browning around the edges of leaves that tells you that a plant has struggled with moisture stress. Water is delivered last to those extremities as it’s pulled through the plants’ conducting tissues. Then those are the first places to dry out. That’s why wilting always shows up at the outer tips of shoots first. Also, blueberries require highly acidic planting soils. That planting soil you described (for “designed for shrubs”) is probably neutral or even slightly alkaline. I don’t think that has anything to do with your plants’ issues, but I wouldn’t use it on acid-loving plants like blueberries or azaleas in the future. They would be better served with sphagnum peat moss. Finally, remember that you need two varieties of blueberries that bloom at the same time growing near one another to ensure pollination. Somehow you got fruit to set this year. I wonder if your plant’s flowers were pollinated at the nursery. You need to plant another variety soon.

Dear Neil: My rose bushes were being stripped of their foliage almost overnight. I couldn’t figure out what was doing it. A local nursery suggested a spray, but it got worse. One day I observed the culprit. A large wasp was carrying a piece of the leaf in its mouth. It flew a short distance and went into our gas grill. I opened the grill and it had built a 3-inch wasp nest. Who would have thought! Another reason to hate them.

Answer: Don’t hate them. Granted that you don’t want them stripping your rose bushes, but you’ve been visited by a leafcutter bee. They’re usually solitary insects that are fascinating as they construct their nests from large, semi-circular parts of leaf edges. The female doesn’t actually feed on the leaf pieces, plus she’s not there very long, so sprays are essentially ineffective. They do little harm to their host plants so about all we can do is learn to live with them. Odds are good that you won’t have the problem next year. I’ve had one or more of them one year and then not seen them in my garden again for 15 years. If you’d like to learn more about them Google “leafcutter bees.” North Carolina State University has a very good fact sheet on them.

Dear Neil: I planted this red oak in fall 2019. It was doing fine until this spring until it all ground to a stop. The leaves turned brown and they have not fallen off. Please help.

Answer: I can’t tell with any certainty what might have gone wrong. It looks like it was healthy as it leafed out. Now all we have is the brown leaves without any signs of sunscald to the trunk (see earlier question about the red maple). Still, I would suggest that you examine the trunk carefully. Look for any developing vertical cracks on the south or west sides that would indicate early signs of sunscald. Look also for small holes the size of a pencil lead. If you see them, they would indicate damage done by borers. It’s too late to treat for them, but at least you would know what caused it to die. Think back to any fertilizer you might have applied. Is there any chance that it could have contained a weedkiller product? Those are the only things I can think of.