May not be possible to tell using only these photos, taking closer pictures and samples of affected parts to your local USDA Cooperative Extension Service branch office may be required for reliable diagnosis.

That's a great idea, thank you.

it previously lost its leader ... its time to go ....

it would not be worth the money to try to fix it .... if in fact it could be fixed ... though i am sure you could find less than honest peeps to 'try' to save it ...

it previously lost its leader ... and for some bizarre reason.. it tried putting another down low... while regrowing two above ...

you have plenty of space ... cut it flush to the ground and either burn it if you can.. or have it removed.. and plant some new trees ...

imo.. its simply not worth wasting a couple hundred dollars on trying to save.. that which is not worth saving ....

welcome to the forums .... start a new post with some pix of the whole yard if you want some ideas about gardening in your yard ... there is a perennial.. annual ... tree and conifer forums ... which ought to about cover your basic gardening issues ...

i dont know anything about TX gardening.. but i would be interesting in following the posts .... and chiming in .. when i can ...

ken

Well, thank you for your honesty. It's a bit sad for some reason to think we might have to burn it or cut it down. It's pretty tall and still makes pine cones but 1/3 of it looks like it's in trouble. At least the other trees appear healthy for the most part.

different point of view... it is NOT devastating.. to remove a problem .. and you are better off removing it.. rather than just leaving it there and hoping it doesnt take out the fence or the building behind .... it probably wouldnt hurt the house ... but why find out i was wrong... lol ...

if you see some trees in your area.. that you like.. if you get pix of the leaves ... bark.. and the whole.. we can probably ID it for you ...

ken

It may make you feel better to know that you can probably still take this down yourself, or hire someone to do it reasonable. When pine trees reach their natural lifespan you're looking at more than a thousand to take them down!

I appreciate everyone's feedback and time too. And I understand it has to be removed, I guess everything has its lifespan and I wouldn't want it to come down in either yard. Especially with little kids here and there. Years ago I lived in MA and was walking home from work, I turned a street and there was a very long tree that had fallen across the street, blocking cars. It's a little sad that we will have to take this one down, I know it probably sounds ridiculous but I guess I like trees. My husband will be able to take it down, he trims trees and it probably will not cost anything so that's good. And, we will put something wonderful in its place.

I will be posting again because there are some mystery trees in the yard, maybe yall can help identify them.

Also, I saw a picture online of what the bark looks like when there is a pine borer infestation and it looks exactly like the bark on ours. So it really does look like those borer beetles got to it somehow.