Trees make up a big part of your landscape. They add curb appeal, make the air around your home fresher and rich in oxygen, provide shade, and also lower your carbon footprint. If your tree needs maintenance, and if it’s suffering from a disease, you can search for “tree service near me” and hire pros who can help. For now, let’s check three tree diseases you need to watch out for.
The Trees
1. Anthracnose – This is one of the most common tree diseases that can plague your backyard. It’s a fungal disease that can infect a long list of trees anywhere across North America. Usually, the disease is more common in deciduous trees like sycamore, maple, oak, and dogwood species. On its own, Anthracnose isn’t too deadly. However, if the tree is already being stressed by other factors, this fungal disease accelerates the decline of the tree’s overall health and may also lead to its death.
While most other trees require other external factors for a swift decline with this disease, dogwood species are highly vulnerable. The disease can quickly spread to the stems of the tree and deliver a quick death. Apart from that, the disease also spreads to other dogwood trees in the vicinity. So, if Anthracnose is in the area, you need to be vigilant and try your best to protect your trees from it.
The fungi that cause this disease rely primarily on the water to spread around. So, if you live in a wet and cold region, you should be even more vigilant. The symptoms of this disease are easy to identify. If the tree is suffering from the disease, its leaves would form circular or irregularly shaped dark or brown dead spots. Fallen leaves would have brown or dark margins and large dead botches along and in between the veins.
2. Controlling and treating Anthracnose – Anthracnose can be controlled with cultural methods. If you notice the symptoms on a tree, prune out the affected branches. This gets rid of the affected tissues and also increases airflow in the canopy. You also need to dispose of the diseased debris properly. Burn them in a controlled environment instead of adding them to your compost.
Treating the disease is fairly easy. Proper application of the right fungicide on the infected parts over the course of a year can protect the tree. However, this treatment method is only adopted in severe cases when you run out of alternatives. Usually pruning and controlling the spread of the disease early on should get the job done.
3. Rhizosphaera Needle Cast – This is another very common disease that ranks at the top along with Anthracnose. Similar to Anthracnose, Rhizosphaera Needle Cast is a fungal disease that primarily affects conifers across North America. Trees like spruce, pine, fir, and hemlock are most susceptible to this disease.
This disease delivers long and slow death to the tree. However, things may be accelerated if external factors contribute to the declining health of the tree. The visual symptoms of this disease include thinning of the canopy from the bottom up, excessive needle drops, and purple to dark brown coloring of the inner needles.
4. Treatment of Rhizosphaera Needle Cast – The treatment for Rhizosphaera Needle Cast is fairly simple. A fungicide application to the affected areas can help reduce infection and minimize damage to the trees. You can also use fungicide as a preventative measure if you notice the Rhizosphaera Needle Cast on other trees in your neighborhood. On the other hand, if you notice mild symptoms of the disease in the previous season, you’d need to actively treat the tree this season when new leaves come out.
After that, you’ll repeat the treatment in the next growing season to completely eliminate any signs of the fungi from your trees. If one tree gets infected with the disease, it’s highly likely that the disease would spread to healthier trees around it. That’s why you need to provide preventative fungicide care and cultural care to the surrounding trees. Prevention is always better than cure and gives your trees a fair fighting chance against the disease.
5. Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight – The final common disease that you need to watch out for is the Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight. It’s another fungal disease that affects conifers throughout the nation from coast to coast. Arborvitae trees are especially vulnerable to this fungal disease. Similar to other fungal diseases, the Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight fungi thrive in areas with excess moisture. So if you over-irrigate your backyard or get a lot of rainfall, you need to be careful.
Similar to the above-mentioned diseases, Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight alone can’t bring down a tree in one season. However, other elements may accelerate the decline and death of the tree. That’s why you need to identify the disease as soon as you can. The symptoms of this disease include progressive color change of the foliage. Leaves would turn from green to yellow, then to a dark brown that appears almost black. Twig tips may also turn black with fungal fruiting dots on the surface.
6. Treatment of Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight – The treatment of this disease follows the same path as the other two. That means you need to use fungicides as a preventative. Apart from that, caring for the tree and ensuring its health would also help. If the disease has already affected the tree, prune out the dead foliage along with the twigs as soon as the spring season arrives. Make sure the tree is hydrated during the winter so that injuries don’t increase. Don’t allow snow to accumulate around the base either.
Conclusion
Rhizosphaera Needle Cast, Pestalotiopsis Tip Blight, and Anthracnose are fairly common tree diseases that you need to watch out for. The goal is to watch out for early signs of infection and nip it in the bud before it can spread to the healthier parts of the tree. You can also search for “tree service near me” and hire pros to do the job for you.