Well, I'm no liberal, Mr. Fielitz, but I am a tree hugger. People love trees and like to live where there are big beautiful trees. Clear cutting is a horrible and ignorant practice in Atlanta and everywhere. But in my opinion, it is just as bad for developers to leave trees on their sites and not protect them from construction activities. It means a slow and undignified death for the tree and possible property damage or injuries to people.

The benefits of trees to human life are countless. They provide oxygen, filter pollutants, provide shade, control water runoff, add value to your property, lower energy bills, provide privacy, supply us with building materials, and on and on. I believe that someday in the not so distant future, the government (yuk) will have to step in and make the developers save trees and do it properly. An arborist will have to look at every construction plan and implement tree saving procedures. I hope it's not too late!

Bill, first you want to decide if your tree needs fertilizing. In most cases, it does not. If you have a new house where the land was stripped of all topsoil and you have new trees planted, they would probably need fertilizing. Otherwise, I would recommend taking soil samples to your local extension office and having a soil test done to see what you need. Recent studies have shown that fertilizing your trees only helps them to grow more. And when your trees are pushed to grow, they are using energy that would otherwise be allocated to defense, or root growth, or some other needed function. If the trees do need to be fertilized, call a professional. Be sure to keep the trees well mulched. You can even use their discarded leaves. The mulch breaks down over time and acts as a fertilizer.

This is a serious problem, Lynn. You will not be able to save the pine that already has the beetles in it. Beetles attack pines, that are a week or stressed from either mechanical injury or environmental factors. Once they are in your tree, it is too late. The beetle larvae feed on the phloem of the tree and girdle it. They can also leave behind the blue stain fungus which will grow in the sapwood and disrupt the water flow of the tree. The tree needs to be cut down immediately and completely removed from the site. 

The best way to prevent the beetles to spread is to keep your trees healthy. A good layer of mulch over the root zones and deep soakings in the dry months will help. Also, keep traffic and construction away from your trees. The pines can be sprayed with certain chemicals that will help keep the beetles away, but call an arborist to perform this.