second from last pic.. not the best pruning i have ever seen ....

you dont own this house anymore???

IMHO ... these trees are timber trees... and worse than anything labeled 'fast growing' [like poplars] ... in my sand near ann arbor ... after a year or two.. they grow 3 to 5 feet per year.. fast to grow.. fast to have big problems ... and fast to die.. in terms of tree years, of course ...

again.. IMHO ... these are forest trees.. not really cut out for suburbia ....

there is a conifer forum ... though conifers are trees .. and frankly.. i dont care where you post ... because in this case.. the conifers peeps hang here also ...

cool fog pix ...

ken

I agree that it looks like white pine but if you can count the number of needles per sheath and measure them and get a closeup of the bark that could confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt.

or a cone ;-)

Dax

Ditto to Eastern White Pine.

Those pics aren't taken recently, I hope??

Resin

I will get a pic of a cone this weekend.

My partner's parents own the house, he will be inheriting it sooner rather than later. We take care of it and are getting it ready to rent out.

There has been no pruning on the trees. The pruning you see is courtesy of massive lake effect and wind. Great huh.

Nope pic was taken two winters ago LOL definitely not yesterday! Way too early for that kind of stuff! I think it was right around Christmas two years ago. We bought a house in the city so no more pretty woods around us.

Ken, I read that they can actually live hundreds of years. Doesn't mean they look great, but still, they can live hundreds of years.

If they were near the house, they'd be down, but they aren't hurting anything right now except the plum and apple tree so they stay. I think they are very pretty. I'd never plant one, though.

I hope I'm not taking the thread into an unwelcome tangent, but I'll ask anyway.

Since Ken said that white pines don't make a good residential tree, it got me thinking.

Bazillions of Austrian pines are sold and planted everywhere.

Has anyone else noticed them dying right and left recently in your areas? Here are metro Detroit, there seems to be something killing them all -- they brown out and die quickly. Large, mature ones and young ones are all affected.

I seem to recall it was some kind of mite or fungus, maybe came from overseas via New York State or New England, perhaps, but can't recall for sure?

denn, maybe you're thinking of diplodia tip blight?

ok ... since you are taking care of the property ..

the pic with the tractor ....

YOU HAVE TO CORRECTLY PRUNE OFF all the limbs that were broken off ....

we dont leave 1 to 5 foot stumps off the trunk ...

as to my point about forest trees ... the root of my complaint.. is all the free arbor day trees the kids bring home from school to their 50 x 100 foot lot.. and parents plant that cute little one foot tree.. two feet from the corner of the house. ... then 50 years later.. at 75 feet tall ... it comes crashing thru the roof killing grandma and g-pa ... all for the sake of no one realizing that .. blah.. blah.. blah ... lol ..

on my 5 acres.. i can put them 50 .. 100 feet out from the house.. and enjoy them forever ... if you have a postage stamp lot in suburbia... you really need something else ...

ken

"Has anyone else noticed them dying right and left recently in your areas? Here are metro Detroit, there seems to be something killing them all -- they brown out and die quickly"

"denn, maybe you're thinking of diplodia tip blight?"

Or perhaps more likely pine wilt nematode?

Resin

i am pretty sure that it is the nematode issue ... since i am in MI

ken

If they die fast, as denninmi mentioned, most likely pine wilt nematode. The slow agonizing death is often diplodia tip blight.

tj