We have our trash burner close to a huge, beautiful white pine. I'm always careful to wet it down and wet any stray embers, while burning the trash. DH has been burning the trash recently. I was out there the other day and several of the big lower branches appeared to have ash residue on them. I was sure DH wasn't being careful when he burned the trash. Well, for the first time ever... :) I was wrong. When I looked it over closely, and touched the branches, I realized it had some sort of disease on it. I looked it up and it is "Black Soot". What I've read is that it's more a cosmetic issue, but was wondering if there's anything natural I can do to get rid of it? Do you have any idea what might have caused this? We have tons of white pine on our big property, but this is the first time I've ever seen the black soot. Any suggestions? Thanks!