We have friends, across the street, that have two young Bradford Pears. One of the trees leaves have completely turned brown. They aren't dried out, just really dark brown and limp. They discovered a huge ant bed down at the base and from what they can tell, its all down in the roots. The tree trunk looks find and alive.

My question is...they treated for the ants...not naturally ...will the tree survive?

Any help would be great! I told her I would post about it on my favorite message board!

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Stacey

Treating for the ants won't make any difference because I don't think that ants can kill healthy trees. It's probably a coincidence that they were there. Sometimes ants invade rotting or stressed trees to take advantage of the soft wood but it sounds like there is something else wrong with the tree. Kent

Actually an ant bed improves soil aeration and so forth, it doesn't kill trees Now, sometimes some kinds of ants will chew up decaying or weak wood, but just like moss hanging in dead tree limbs- it's a symptom, not a cause.

The actual cause of the tree's stress should be explored.

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Shepherd of the Trees
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

Thank you for the information...I'll pass it along

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Stacey