My mature apple and young pear trees are dying. Last winter a large limb looked black and never leafed out. I later severely pruned the tree back. During the summer other apple trees had smaller limbs that would die and I would remove those. There are oval patches on some of the larger limbs. I'm not sure if this is related. I've also removed a couple of young pear trees with a similar condition. I would appreciate any help. I again pruned and applied a dormant spray about a month ago.

McMinnville, OR

Dave

Sounds like fireblight. 2012 was a really rough year with fireblight running rampant. You should remove all blackened wood and then spray with copper to hopefully kill or at least reduce the disease that remains. Best of luck to you and your trees.

Traditionally, we have not had fireblight. Someone else at the grafting class told me about that too. Bad news. Maybe global warming and climate change are bringing us these "gifts".
John S
PDX OR

“There are oval patches on some of the larger limbs.”
Like these? -



If so, it could be Anthracnose. And, “The disease is found to a lesser extent on pear, quince, and crabapples” http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/tree001/tree001.htm