u/chalkmuppet

I have two European Larches (I believe) in an established garden. We bought the property 4 years back and I believe the whole garden, including larches, was planted around 15 years back. The garden is fairly densely planted, and has no artificial irrigation. The trees are about 1.5-2m from a Thuja hedge. We live in the middle of Poland, getting typical central european weather ( down to -16C in winter).

The larch on the left has always been the weaker of the two. I remember it having a little less foliage and fewer branches (it did have one larger branch knocked off in November from an ornamental willow collapsing on it due to rotting and sickness), than its neighbour I think it is a few days behind the one on the right in leafing as well, and from the photos it looks a little less lush at this moment. I am also aware that trees can be just different from each other.

However, it has significant gaps in the bark near the ground - I hope the video comes through but the crevasse is 2-3 cm deep - and some resin deposits about a metre up. I have seen a few bugs, like the red/black shield bugs, in the crevasses.

We have not treated these trees in any special way since arriving. I am concerned that the trees is in danger, for all the obvious reasons. Any advice is helpful, including any resources I could look at. We considering finding a professional to come and look, but for the moment just curious if there is any thoughts from you fine folk.

The foundations you see in the foreground are for greenhouse and are not deep (<20cm), about 1.5m from the tree.

Many thanks in advance