Here is a shot of the canopy. At the risk of TMI, the leaves come out later than most in the area, the fruit are smaller than the hickoy trees in the backyard and it loses its leaves earlier in the fall. However, it seems full and lush.

View of the base from the Northern side.

View of the base from the Northern side.

{{!gwi}}

Lichens do not harm trees, but may be an indicator that something else is wrong, causing the tree die back, which then allows enough light for the lichen to grow. In the case of your tree, the lichen may just be indicating that the tree is growing slowly, due to its age, and there may be nothing wrong with it.

Regarding the lichens, I think you should probably fire that 'tree company'. Lichens do not suck the vitality out of trees at all. They feed on airblown nutrients and such. If they were truly parasitic to your or any tree, then why are they so common on rocks, artificial home siding, metal, etc..

Lichens are not fungus, in which case you'd probably have cause for alarm.

Based on what I see in your photos, your tree is beautiful, and there is nothing wrong with it. Enjoy it and let it be until you begin to see true signs of problems like large branches dying or fungus (mushrooms) coming out of it.

Just my two cents. :-)

Brad N/IL Z5

That tree will probably still be there after all of us are long gone.

Hi Everyone,

Whew! You just saved me quite a bit of worry and possibly money. I will keep an eye out for any other symptoms but just leave it alone for now except for a light fertilizer in the Fall and Spring.

I very much appreciate your thoughtful and informed responses.

Light fertilizer is OK, but don't feel bad if you need to save $$ and forgo it, unless you want nut production, and I'm guessing that you really don't care about that :-) Truthfully, if you put regular old lawn fertilizer down for the grass in spring and fall, then this is sufficient for your trees too. Feed your lawn, and you'll feed your trees and shrubs too.

Those fertilizer spikes are a waste of time and money really as the fertilizer should be spread across the entire root zone. Having said that, don't feel alarmed and feel that you need to go back and pull them out of the ground now as they really don't hurt anything either. It's just that if you happen to have an unopened box of them and the receipt, then I'd take them back to the store and get your money back.

I think you should find something else to worry about as it looks to me like this tree is in great shape! Other than the nitrogen deficiency (Nut trees such as this one are heavy nitrogen feeders) and the lichens, I am curious as to why you thought there are problems with your tree?

Cheers!

Brad N.IL/Z5

Don't worry about lichens. Whoever told you that doesn't have a clue, or is scamming you.

Impressive hickory. Can you get a nut, leaf or twig w/leaves & post pic? Not sure which hickory it is. Not shagbark/shellbark. Form doesn't seem like bitternut either (but could be), so best guess is a mockernut/pignut type.

Here's a big bitternut's form:

This post was edited by beng on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 13:13

And the same tree's base -- note there's plenty of lichen on it too:

This post was edited by beng on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 14:02

I think some of the concern the OP had was not about the lichen, but about the damage caused by a string trimmer. The presence of the lichen increased the visibility of the string trimmer damage.

String trimmers (weed eaters, etc.) are one of the biggest threats trees have to tolerate in an urban environment. Damage prevention is so easy (care & attention, tree guards, mulch around the tree, etc.). Don't let that be the downfall of your tree.

Hi,

Brad thank you for the information regarding those spikes. I will save my money on those in the future as my poor lawn will be getting TLC for a while.

Beng, I would love to know what I have. I can run around tonight to see if the rain caused any leaves to drop. Thank you!

I am so grateful to you guys for all your responses. Tree care information is rather hard to come by using a Google search