Common Tree Diseases and Their Symptoms, Part 2
In part one of this multi-part blog series, we went over some of the common tree diseases that may impact your trees throughout the year, plus their symptoms. Trees are susceptible to a number of different conditions depending on their species, size, location and other factors, and understanding which they might be at risk for and how to protect them and check for signs of any such conditions is very important.
At Affordable Tree Care, we’re proud to provide tree spraying and healthcare services for all your property’s trees throughout the year. Through proper injections, fertilization and other services, we can prevent everything from pests to many forms of tree disease. In today’s blog, we’ll detail a few more of the common diseases that might face your trees, plus some symptoms that may clue you in to what’s going on.
Dothistroma Needle Blight
For trees that include needles, such as pines, needle blight is a fungal disease that can impact a variety of species – as many as 35 just in North America, for instance. When it affects your pines or other needle trees, it will often lead to premature defoliation. In other cases, it may have several different impacts in terms of limiting or stunting the growth of younger pines.
If any of your pine trees are affected by dothistroma needle blight, the symptoms you notice will usually begin with color concerns. Yellow or tan bands will begin to form on the needles first and foremost, and then the needles may begin to experience dieback. Needle blight can generally be treated using fungicide, particularly those containing copper hydroxide and mancozeb at the bud break.
Oak Wilt
Another fungal disease that can impact over 20 different tree species all over the country is called oak wilt, a systemic disease that can lead to tree death in many cases. It affects a variety of oaks, with symptoms that begin with leaf wilt and discoloration and may continue into premature defoliation, vascular discoloration and eventually major sickness and death.
When it comes to treating oak wilt, the determining factor will be whether the tree is part of the white oak or red oak family. Those in the former category can be treated once acquiring oak wilt, while those in the latter cannot. But the condition can be prevented in both species using fungicide injections during growing season.
Powdery Mildew
Down related but not the same lines, a fungal pathogen disease that affects many kinds of trees is known as powdery mildew. These pathogens grow on the surface of the tree (also on certain other kinds of plants), producing fungal threads and spores that can lead to distortion in leaves, flowers and shorts. As the condition wears on, tissue will dry out and become brown. This mildew condition can be prevented using fungicide, and there are also many tree species that are resistant to the pathogen to begin with and will require no treatment.
For more on common tree diseases and their symptoms, or to learn about any of our tree trimming, removal or spraying services, speak to the staff at Affordable Tree Care today.
