Dieback on Heartnut (sapsucker?)

Question: Hey, I'm wondering what caused dieback on one of our heartnuts.

We planted two heartnuts (Juglans ailantifolia) in 2009.  In early October this year (2024), one of them looked thirsty (somewhat wilty-looking leaves), so I set a sprinkler under it for several hours, on the south side, then on the north.  A week later (Oct 14), I noticed the top half had lost all of its leaves, and the bark had this grid-pattern of depressions and what look like (but aren't really) vertical ridges.  My first thought was some kind of fungal or bacterial disease affecting the vascular system.  It looks so different from sapsucker holes on other trees around here (cherries, oaks, etc), but maybe it's from a sapsucker, and just got to be too much? What do you know?  Thanks!

responder: Patricia Patterson Replied November 02, 2024, 1:54 PM EDT
response: The sapsucker damage is extensive. Is it significantly different than on the other affected trees? Obviously, the damage is interrupting some of the cambium flow of nutrients and even water.   Woodpecker holes in less healthy trees provide access to pests and disease, but these trees are usually under stress from other factors as well. Excessive numbers of random holes in a tree might be a symptom of a tree that is already hosting high pest populations of insects. On less damaged trees,  using mylar tapes to scare the birds is a possible deterrent. You can make your own visual repellents with common aluminum foil, which may be the most effective visual repellent. 1)Cut strips of aluminum 2 to 3 inches wide and 2 to 3 ft long. 2)Attach one end of several strips to a 6 to 8 inch string. 3)Nail small brads or nails 2 to 3 ft from the damage area. If you put them on a building, put them 6 to 10 ft apart. 4)Attach each string to the small brad so that the foil strips hang freely and move with the breeze.

responder: The Question Asker Replied November 13, 2024, 2:13 AM EST
response: Thanks!  I may try that.  I have some old CDs I could hang in the trees, too. I think I will also try affixing a tube of chicken wire around the major limbs.  I've noticed that the lower 6 feet or so the tree's trunk is undamaged, where I have a loose tube of 2" chicken wire around each trunk to protect from damage from deer antler rubbing.  Maybe this keeps the sapsuckers from damaging it, too.  I think I'll use 1" chicken wire for both trunk and limbs, though, in case it works even better.  I'll leave plenty of grow-room inside the tubes, and adjust as needed. As far as the difference from other trees, It seems more of a solid grid of holes on the heartnuts, whereas on oaks and cherries it seems more like a ring of holes around the circumference of the trunk, several inches from the next ring of holes.  Also, the bark on the heartnut around the holes looks unnaturally smooth to me, almost like its been polished off by something, or had some kind of cellular change.  But, maybe not!

responder: Patricia Patterson Replied November 16, 2024, 12:33 AM EST
response: The damage is typical and when the bird concentrates on the sap of this tree, it can lead to cambium damage and decline or even death of the tree. Why the heartnut, I expect a good flush of sweet sap, insects drawn to the sap and and overenthusiastic sapsucker (woodpecker family)

responder: Patricia Patterson Replied November 17, 2024, 12:37 PM EST
response: The damage is typical and when the bird concentrates on the sap of this tree, it can lead to cambium damage and decline or even death of the tree. Why the heartnut, I expect a good flush of sweet sap, insects drawn to the sap and and overenthusiastic sapsucker (woodpecker family)