Homeowners with a windbreak or individual pine tree plantings need to be on the lookout for needle blight and be prepared to treat the disease. Many people dont realize pine trees lack the ability to replace lost needles. Needles shed on the interior of a branch will never grow back and therefore it is important to protect against needle blight. I have seen many pines in our area that are looking a little sickly.
There are two common types of blight that affect pine trees Dothistroma needle blight and Sphaeropsis tip blight. Both are prevalent in our area.
Dothistroma needle blight can be severe on Austrian and Ponderosa pines. This blight is caused by the Dothistroma fungus that infects pine needles in May. Most of the time, symptoms wont show up until fall. By that time, it is too late to control the disease.
