Recognizing Tree Disease

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Unlike Armillaria, one of the newest and most dangerous tree diseases we are experiencing is a true pathogen. Sudden Oak Death, Phytophthora ramorum, is wreaking havoc up and down the west coast as well as the eastern part of the country and scientists are not quite sure what is causing it or much of anything about it besides the obvious: it spreads quickly and it’s almost always deadly.

The main give away visually for Sudden Oak Death is typically: lesions on the bark and trunk, sudden branch and leaf withering, followed by death. Once the tree is infected the name is really indicative of the process, as the tree will die rapidly thereafter. There is not much you can do to treat Sudden Oak Death, but there are things you can do to stop it from spreading to other trees in the near vicinity. Through trial and error researchers have found if you heat the ground around the infected tree to 122 degrees Fahrenheit you can keep the disease from spreading through the ground. Not much to go on, but until more research can be done it’s all we’ve got. Of course removing the tree after death would be needed and should be done ...
... quickly in order to avoid spreading the disease as well as keeping the dead material from becoming a safety hazard.

Beyond the harsh pathogens and serious fungal infections, there is one more large danger you should be aware of regarding your yard health. Insects play a major roll in our eco system in both large and small ways. In nature, when it comes to trees, insects breakdown dead wood and help clean out parts of the untamed wilderness by speeding along the decomposition process of unhealthy trees. However, that being said, they can also put stress on weaker plants and cause injury and/or death to an unprepared tree or tree owner.

Take for instance the Piynon Ips Beetle. According to the Nevada Division of Forestry: “It kills weak and damaged trees, continuing the important process of nutrient cycling…However, when the beetle populations increase to epidemic levels, or the insects infest particularly valuable trees in the home landscape, they are a problem.” Although the beetle is located mostly in Nevada, because we share a boarder and a lot of interstate traffic with drought conditions being as they are we are seeing an influx of Pinyon Ips Beetles. Maybe not the most dangerous of the tree issues we’ve talked about today, but definitely still an issue when considering the health of your yard; the PIB is known to bore under the bark and tunnel throughout the area between the bark and tree flesh because the soft tissue is nutrient rich and easy to manipulate. While most beetle attacks on healthy trees are unsuccessful, they can occasionally cause damage.