Subject: Sawdust around Crabapple?

From: [email-masked] (lisa kerns)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 17:15:22 GMT

Help!

I have an enourmous (2 ft diameter trunk) white flowering crab apple
tree with several alarming things on the bark!

The most worrisome is a pile of fine sawdust that is accumulating 
around the base of the tree.  Last year, the tree was covered with 
ants, big ones, small ones, and I put some ant dust around it and 
all the ants died and the pile of sawdust stopped growing. This year,
I see no ants yet, but the pile is back! It IS crab-apple wood sawdust,
and I can see it is coming from the tree, but now I'm thinking
that it's not ants. (Zone 6) What is making this pile?

Also, the trunk has developed long, but not wide, cracks/splits going up
and down the main trunk??

Here and there, there is evidence of oozy sap which has hardened.
There seems to be some bark that has space behind the outer cover,
like it is shedding large pieces of outer skin, only it hasn't fallen off
yet, and doesn't look like it's going to.

Otherwise, the tree is healthy, and produces blossoms and good foliage,
at least for now.

I am assuming I have several different problems here, but what exactly is
going on? I'm all for chemical warfare; I don't want to lose this tree.
I'm afraid if I don't take immediate action, I'll lose the only big 
tree I have!  What should I spray?

=====================================================================
|    Lisa M. Kerns      e-mail: [email-masked]                 |  
|                                                                   |
| Structural Dynamics Research Corporation   Cincinnati, OH         | 
| My employer cannot be held responsible for my correspondence ...  |
| They'd probably deny that I was employed here anyway.             |
=====================================================================

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From: [email-masked] (Doug Wedding)
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 18:07:57 GMT

Lisa,

I would go to a garden center and ask for Tanglefoot and  circle 
around the base of the tree just below where the ants are entering. The 
insects will get stuck and starve to death :(

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (lisa kerns) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (lisa kerns)
>Subject: Sawdust around Crabapple?
>Date: 28 Mar 1995 17:15:22 GMT

Standard High-Tech Disclaimer: NOTHING  in the above article has the slightest
relationship to reality. If any reality correspondences are found, please
notify me IMMEDIATELY. Any threats, abuse or stupidity of any kind is purely
UNintentional. These are MY Opinions NOT my employer's.

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From: [email-masked] (Doug Wedding)
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 18:07:57 GMT

Lisa,