What's happening to my tree?

Could it be woolly aphids.? They like a lot of ornamentaland fruit trees.. If you take a small twig and scrape off the fluffy coating, underneath you will see the tiny bugs feeding on the sap of the tree. They are brownish and elongated. The fluffy material will start appear in small amounts now in spring and become larger as the year progresses - it is not present in winter when the bugs are inactive.

Woolly aphid overwinters on its host plants as nymphs that hide in cracks in the bark or in crevices around old feeding areas. During the winter months the aphids do not produce the waxy material that gives them the characteristic woolly coating in summer.

In spring, the aphids become active again, mainly around old pruning cuts or other places on the trunk or larger branches where the bark is thinner. They begin sucking sap from beneath the bark, and start secreting the fluffy ‘wool’.

Infestations reach a peak in mid- to late summer, when the aphids spread onto the younger shoots. Chemicals secreted into the plant as the aphids feed induce lumpy growths in the bark, especially on the younger shoots.
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Sadly if it is it is a nightmare to shift the waxy-woolly protection But you can sort of stroke it away with methylated spirits or even shifted with a gloved hand, making the insects vulnerable to insecticides, or whole branches can be scrubbed with a brush dipped in soapy waterwith added Neem oil

 

Oh dear I did wonder if they might both have it, Blumming things.. I think you could start with washing up liquid and a scrubbing brush and see how you get on but if you can get some neem oil it would help a lot it is really good.. Wooly aphids are prone to attacking stressed or unhealthy trees.. Not saying yours are but I would make sure your trees do not dry out keep moist all the time, maybe a feed as well as that many aphids supping away there will be exhausting them.. Let us know how you get on..