WATCH OUT! PINE BEETLE INFESTATION

Released: 2/27/2026

Linene Woods has lots of pine trees. That means our trees may be subject to attack by pine bark beetles which in turn can cause a tree to die and become a hazard during a storm. Our recent/current drought has caused a lot of damage in our neighborhood as pine trees are especially susceptible due to their shallow root systems.

• First, look at the tops of trees. If you see yellow or rust-colored areas when surrounding trees are green, that can be a sign of beetle infestation. A positive identification may require the services of an arborist but you can be alert to possible signs.
• Next, look closely at the bark for pitch tubes; these are small whitish or reddish-brown globs of sap that look like popcorn on the side of the tree trunk. There may also be small mounds of what looks like sawdust or coffee grounds at the base of the tree and in the bark crevices. If you remove a section of the bark, you may see a network of holes created by the beetles.

The presence of woodpeckers may be an indicator, since those birds are seeking the beetles.

Infested trees eventually die and because they are weakened, they can be a tree-fall hazard and may need to be removed. If you have questions, you can contact arborist and Linene neighbor Clay Culpepper of Miller Tree Service at clay@millertreesrv.com.

Please note: This is not an endorsement. Nor does Linene Woods receive any kind of compensation. It is a nice benefit to our organization (and our homeowners) that we happen to have an arborist on our board from a respected organization.

On Feb 19, 2026, The Linene Woods Homeowners Association Board requested to have Clay take a look through the neighborhood to help identify trees that need to be brought to attention. Below is that compilation by street:

DARTMOOR

3321 Dartmoor - 4 dead pines on left, 2 in back right

3320 Dartmoor - 4 dead pines in front

3319 Dartmoor - 1 dead pine in front

3318 Dartmoor - 1 dead pine by mailbox

3315 Dartmoor - 1 dead pine by driveway

3305 Dartmoor - 1 dead pine on left side of driveway

3302 Dartmoor - 1 pine in front

RUTLAND LOOP

3307 Rutland loop - 2 dead pines on left side of driveway

3301 Rutland loop - 2 dead pines on right side of driveway

CASTLETON CIRCLE

376 Castleton - 1 dead pine on left side of house

378 Castleton - 2 dead pines in back

392 Castleton - 7 dead oaks and gums by street

413 Castleton - 1 dead pine in front by street

READING

3313 Reading - 3 dead pines in back. Dead red oak on left side.

3311 Reading - 1 dead pine on right side of driveway.

LOCKSLEY

3202 Locksley - dead pine on left

403 Locksley - dead pine by driveway at street.

CHESHIRE

3206 Cheshire Ct - 1 dead oak by power line in front

RIDGELAND

390 Ridgeland - 1 dead pine by street

The greatest concern is not only with these specific trees, but also with how fast they can move to other trees as well.

Management and Preventive Strategies

Pest management to prevent the pine beetles relies on the following strategies:

• Prohibit off-site planting of loblolly pines.
• Maintain proper soil nutrients through an acidic pine needles or pine bark mulches over the root zones.
• Harvest and remove damaged trees.
• Avoid trunk wounds.
• Avoid root and bole damage during management operations.
• Keep stump heights as low as possible.
• Avoid moments of infested firewood from place to place to stop the new infestation.
• Keep piles of logging slash and stacks of fresh pine firewood away from the base of live pine trees.

The Tallahassee Democrat happened to put out an article about this issue in 2023:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/life/home-garden/2023/07/07/how-to-detect-and-manage-damaging-pine-bark-beetles/70387145007/

We're sooo happy to finally have our new website live and ready to use to its full extent! This has been a long journey as we worked on migrating content, updating our Welcome Packet, configuring the back end, building new forms. All of this has led to a single platform that is going to greatly simplify the lives of our volunteer board. It also should save our homeowners signiciant time (and hassle) over our previous processes - from online payment (vs checks only) to online request forms (vs paper/email). We invite you to login to our portal and explore the functionality of this platform.

We look forward to providing even better service to our neighbors with this tool in place.

PLEASE NOTE: Our new domain also comes with a new email address for LWHOA - Support@LineneWoods.com

-Your Linene Woods HOA Board