Tulip tree demise - Ask Extension
Good afternoon
Looking for thoughts on what happened to cause my twenty year old tulip tree to decline. Several years ago, it had a black exudate at ...
Knowledgebase
Tulip tree demise #936579
Asked June 23, 2026, 6:21 PM EDT
Good afternoon
Looking for thoughts on what happened to cause my twenty year old tulip tree to decline. Several years ago, it had a black exudate at crotches. Then limbs started dying back. This year many longitudinal cracks on numerous branches appeared. In general the canopy is much reduced. Guessing I'll have to cut it down, but would love to hear any thoughts on causation you may have. Many thanks
Harford County Maryland
Expert Response
Unfortunately this is not a condition we can diagnose from the photos, as crown dieback can occur from a wide variety of ailments. Cracking/splitting tends to occur as the dying or dead underlying wood dries out, but aside from a lightning strike or frost cracks, such events usually don't happen suddenly. A canker disease might have played a role, but it's hard to say.
We recommend you have a certified arborist examine the tree; they can't treat or cure every condition, but can help narrow-down a diagnosis and look for sources of tree stress that might be able to be alleviated (if a tree is salvageable).
Miri
We recommend you have a certified arborist examine the tree; they can't treat or cure every condition, but can help narrow-down a diagnosis and look for sources of tree stress that might be able to be alleviated (if a tree is salvageable).
Miri
