hey annie ...

its really hard.. on words alone.. to help you ...

i am of the belief.. that we do NOT fertilize already stressed trees ... and if you fert your lawn.. trees get more than enough of whatever they need ...

how do you 'irrigate' your trees???

need some pix..

ken

Japanese Black Pine is always going to be difficult in Oklahoma, partly because the climate there is so different to Japan's, but also because of pine wilt disease, which is endemic in OK, and to which Japanese Black Pine is highly susceptible.

Shortleaf Pine is a far better species for you to grow.

Resin

Okay...

First of all, I live in rural Okie and of my three acres, I have one acre of gardens. Don't have "lawn", but do have grass . Surrounded by ranchers.

The soil on this entire ridge is sandy from underlying sandstone. In laces it tested neutral, in others it tested acidic, but leans towards alkaline in general. I have amended. It drains very well, so the pines I planted did very well until the drought hit.

I don't spray because I have honeybees, and I don't "fertilize", so-to-speak, but do amend my soils with compost, composted manures and add lots of chipped wood mulch, pine straw and leaf mulch. I continuously add leaves and more leaves to improve this god-awful soil.

I planted ten year old BJ pines ten years ago. They have grown into very nice trees. One started having issues and I figured it got some disease even before the drought began. The other two are big, healthy trees and look great.

I irrigate them by running the hose under them for the most part and I use a sprinkler to water my flowers and other plants, herbs and such. The sandy soil drains quickly , but where I have amended the soil, it holds the moisture around the base - not soggy, just damp.

We have lost many native trees in Oklahoma, so I am certain it is the drought that has stressed them. Not asking what to feed them, but what I can do to help them other than what I have already been doing.

Loblollys are native in the eastern part of the state.
I have one Longleaf pine and it is doing great.
I have one Shortleaf pine that is now nearly as tall as the BJ pine it is growing near. Both look healthy and happy. They get afternoon shade from the big Q. Aspen tree south of them and afternoon protection from hot blasting winds on the west side because of the carport/shop. They have small shrubs and groundcover growing around them that keep their base cool. They are also growing where they have extra drainage.
I lost the other two Shortleaf pines when the drought began and temps shot up two years ago, despite my running water under them. They had grown so big and lovely - just broke my heart.

This area was part of the land that was contoured back during the Dust Bowl days, so this entire ridge was contoured.to help retain moisture and prevent erosion. My back "yard " has those contours and I garden on each level.

There are two wooded areas on my property, mostly in Oak and Junipers, but there are hackberry trees and other hardwoods too.
There are Eastern Redbud trees and native Sand Plums.

The smaller Eastern White Pine was in a large container all last year and it was green and healthy. After I set it out last fall, it started turning yellow. It is growing under the canopy edge of an old Elm tree. I planted it near where it sat in the pot. I thought if it did well there then that was a good place for it. I also planted some native Carolina sedge grass under it. I saw that they had a symbiotic relationship in South Carolina, so brought home several clumps and have established it on my property under all the Carolina pines. They are growing very well.

This photo shows two of my BJ pines and the smaller Shortleaf pine growing near the one in background (left of it). Taken last March 2012.

(CLICK on the image to enlarge)

I am certain it is the drought that has stressed them. Not asking what to feed them, but what I can do to help them other than what I have already been doing..

I'll look through my files for pics of the yellowing, stressed ones.

Hope all this chatter has helped give you a better picture.
Thanks.
~Annie

In this photo, the little pine on the left is a Loblolly. It grew much bigger and did well until late summer when it just kicked it. I had a thick amount of chipped wood mulch under and around the drip line.

The pine in the background is a Shortleaf pine that I ordered from a nursery in Tennessee. It also grew much taller and bigger around. Has such a nice form now. The needles were lustrous and healthy. Now they are turning yellow.

This is part of my North Garden and it eally took a big hit last summer after the temps climbed into the triple digits and remained there for three months. There was no rain, whatsoever from June thru October. And since October, no measurable amounts of moisture in any form until just this past two weeks. We finally got some good soaking rainfall and three little snows - very wet snow. Yeah!.

Irrigating has kept it alive, but I worry it will die, especially if we get another summer like last year.

I have pretty much given up on this garden area, except for the shrubs and the trees. I have continued to water since there has been no precip.

What can I do that I am not already doing?

(Click on image to enlarge)

You're doing a lot of good stuff there, Annie. About all i can think of is going back to the watering.....I wonder if you realize how widespread the typical tree's root system is. In other words, a trickle of water near the trunk area may be inadequate. If this is the case, you'd want to water a much wider area, when you do elect to water. Plus, you said the soil is sand based. These soils drain well which is good, but it also means a trickle of water in one little spot does not move laterally hardly at all, whereas in clay-based soils, there can be considerable lateral movement of water.

That's all I've got..........+oM

Have seen some pines near Gatesville , Tx. These Southern Pines often do ok for a time, but some of them seem to grow fine for several years and then start to yellow and die. There is some thought that as these trees got bigger, their roots perhaps grew out of the layer of slightly acidic topsoil and into the alkaline caliche and hence tree starts to decline. I'm not enough of an expert to know, but perhaps you have a situation like this.
Afghan Pines seem to do ok here for a while if planted in well-drained spot and not watered. They have almost the opposite problem of the Southern Pines.