Seeing dead Cedar Trees all over town and in the general area. Why are they dying--is it the stress from the drought last year or some kind of bug or disease? Seems very prevalent.

Boring insect preying on drought damages tres

From the dean :

https://neilsperry.com/2024/05/why-are-eastern-redcedars-dying/

Many of the cedars made it through the 2011 drought, and as bad as 2022/2023 were, 2011 was worse. And many are dying after our winter and spring rains. Cedars (western Junipers) are tough.

Insect damage is my bet, as referenced in the Neil Sperry article.

I have also seen ones die that survived the 2000 drought we had which killed some of my parent's fruit trees then. This is related to bark beetles attacking stressed trees and it has also affected the cost and supply of cedar at lumberyards. One thing I did notice is that other counties don't seem to be as hard hit as Brazos and Roberston are. There seems to be less dead cedar towards the Brenham area.

Burleson county has plenty of dead cedars, and I went to the Lake Limestone area in mid-April, similar numbers of dead cedars, even in low-lying, "wetter" areas.

I know a place that has a very good number of dead cedars, but its out on the fringe of Brazos County.

The north side of Somerville is covered in them. I lost some huge ones that I need to do something with. May just cut, limb, and block the logs up off the ground in hopes they can sit like that until needed.

Last summer's drought was drastically hotter than 2011. More evaporation and additional stress.

Stepmother lost a mess of them between Independence and Brenham.

Thanks to everyone for all the information!

CS78 said:

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The north side of Somerville is covered in them. I lost some huge ones that I need to do something with. May just cut, limb, and block the logs up off the ground in hopes they can sit like that until needed.

Last summer's drought was drastically hotter than 2011. More evaporation and additional stress.

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My observation was from the 1948 side but it did not seem the magnitude that it is in brazos and robertson.


I wonder if they same issue is going on out west as well in the hill country ?

How low did the lake get in 2011 ?

I know in 2010 it was close to 10 ft down when I was building the bathrooms out at the state parks.

We have a ton in Forest lakes. We may be interested. Some of our dead ones are in concerning locations. Don't need a hole in the garage or truck

CS78 said:

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The north side of Somerville is covered in them. I lost some huge ones that I need to do something with. May just cut, limb, and block the logs up off the ground in hopes they can sit like that until needed.

Last summer's drought was drastically hotter than 2011. More evaporation and additional stress.

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2023 set some records(heat), but 2011 was dry AND hot. We lost native pecans and pin oaks that year, that dd not happen in 2022-2023.

"2011 was the driest year ever for Texas, with an average of only 14.8 inches of rain. 2011 also set new records for low rainfall from March through May, and again from June through August."

Probably climate change. Next comes the death of all live oaks and then the Pawlonia trees and after that the Ginkgo trees.

We recently had an oak start losing bark and sapping - seems to be dying.

Visor said:

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We recently had an oak start losing bark and sapping - seems to be dying.

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If sap is running out of the tree, it is on its way out.

I have about 30+ Cedars on my place and 1/4-1/3 have died. Most of them are in a tree line or a clump, so it's not a huge deal. But 2-3 were pretty mature and in prominent locations. Mostly I'm angry about having to pay to take them down.

Also lost a big pine tree, but that seems to happen every 1-2 years, I guess until I run out.

lawless89 said:

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edit to say we got plenty of trees now. Thanks everyone!

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Well shoot, I just told my dad about this and came looking for your info because he has a decent amount of dead trees on his property. If you need more soon let us know again!

I have 5 acres on Turkey Creek Rd just North of Easterwood Airport, and we have lost 32 cedar trees over the last two years. Only a hand full of smaller cedars left (which is OK with me). I have not seen any indication of boring Beatles on the trees. It has to be the drought. I also have lost three huge oak trees as well.
Mr Aggie Ricky

Whatever it is, I wish it would spread to mesquite.

Reload84 said:

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Seeing dead Cedar Trees all over town and in the general area. Why are they dying--is it the stress from the drought last year or some kind of bug or disease? Seems very prevalent.

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There is unrest in the forest
Trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas....

Or its bugs.

I have lost a dozen or more on my place in Wellborn, ranging from 4" diameter to 18"+. Several Post Oaks as well.

I own Living Tree LLC, an aggie/family owned tree service company in the bcs area.

Honestly 2 out of 3 cedars I've seen have died in the last year. Some job sites pretty much every cedar died (84 for one quote last week). It's my understanding that they drink a huge amount of water for their size and for their root base. That amount of stress coupled with all the other crazy weather we've had the last 4 years or so may have opened them up to some bark beetles that are finishing them off. I wouldn't be surprised if something new is starting to get at them but generally I chalk it up to the record setting summer we had last year.

Post oaks are a little different story. Oak wilt is a possibility but unlikely with post oaks around here. Post oaks just can't handle extreme changes in climate well. With the freeze followed by last summer they have either died or become so weak they they are riddled with bugs or other diseases that normally wouldn't be as big of a threat. Pretty much every oak I have worked on that's died this year is a post oak. One exception was a job in franklin with 20+ oaks that all died of oak wilt within a month.

All that said if y'all ever need a free quote for a removal or trimming just let me know. I'll put a link to my business site below, its got my contact info all over it. We specialize in trees over houses, road ways, and other challenging spots that require a special touch! Insured. Experienced. Efficient. livingtreellc.us