Introduction
You put a lot of time and care into growing your trees in the backyard. That’s why it’s heartbreaking to see them fall prey to diseases and slowly die off. You can hire professionals to take care of a sick tree by searching for “tree service near me”. However, knowing about deadly diseases allows you to identify the problem before they do some serious damage. Watch out for these 5 evergreen tree diseases:
The Diseases
Cytospora Canker of Spruce – This fungal disease is extremely common in the Colorado blue spruce and Norway spruce. Sometimes it also attacks hemlocks, balsam fir, larches, and the Douglas fir. One of the most common identifiers of this disease is needles getting browned on evergreens and lower branches slowly dying off.
As the disease penetrates deep into the tree, the higher branches also develop symptoms and start showing signs of damage. At the base of the branches and near the trunk of the tree you may notice cankers. For Norway spruce, these cankers are deadly since they can form right on the trunk and cause girdling that slowly kills off the tree.
This disease can also easily spread via spores that can be carried by the wind, splashing water, and pruning with shears that touch those spores. Apart from that, birds and insects also play a role in spreading the spores. If other trees in your property have open wounds, the spores would have an easy time infecting the tree and spreading through it. Trees that have low vigor and weak roots are usually the first to fall prey to this disease.
To fight this disease, you can hire professionals to regularly prune it, control mites and insects, water the soil thoroughly, and fertilize as necessary. The best thing about hiring a professional is that they come up with the best solution to deal with the disease and give you peace of mind.
White pine weevil – In North America, this is one of the most destructive insect pests that can attack evergreen trees. Spruce varieties including the Colorado blue spruce, Serbian spruce, Norway spruce, and species like the Douglas fir all suffer from the wrath of this disease. Insects leave their larvae inside the trees, and they can chew through the stem leaving a hollow husk.
If that happens, you’ll notice the tree drooping, wilting, and finally dying earlier than it should. On the other hand, if the pest attacks the side branch and makes it its main site it may be bent and start growing upwards. To confirm if it’s really due to this pest, check for resin droplets from the tree. They should glisten against the sun. These droplets are a result of adult insects puncturing the tree for laying eggs.
Even if the tree doesn’t die off your tree may start growing a few lateral branches from the weird spots and get forked permanently. The best way to deal with this pest is to prune off infected branches and burn them before the infection spreads deep. Another option is to use insecticides as soon as you spot the first drop of resin from a bent or wilting branch. However, it’s best to leave insecticide use to professionals since they are very poisonous.
Bagworms – Noticing bagworms isn’t an easy task. However, you won’t be able to miss the cocoon homes they make in your trees. These insects make a cocoon bag with their silk that can carry as many as 1000 eggs at a time. While most evergreen trees can have this pest, arborvitae, juniper, cedar, and spruce varieties are more at risk.
These worms eat away the foliage and buds on your tree which leads to browning of the branch tips followed by their eventual death. However, that’s the least of your problems. If left unchecked these worms can grow exponentially and eat away almost 80 percent of your tree or consume it completely. The silk bags they leave behind on the twigs can also kill the tree within a few years.
If you can tolerate the filth, getting rid of this pest is very easy. You just need to cut off the silk bags by hand and burn them. You don’t want to burst the bag and spread the eggs around the tree. Another solution is to call a professional arborist to treat the entire tree. Since the larvae are active during the late spring and early summer, it’s the best time to treat the tree.
Cedar rust disease – Rust diseases are very common among evergreens. The first signs of this disease are powdery red and orange spores on the needles and foliage. The spores start underneath the leaves and slowly make their way up as the disease penetrates deep and damages the tree. You’ll find the leaves wilting and falling off after a while.
There are certain kinds of rust fungus that develop witch’s brooms or cankers in evergreen trees. To deal with this disease you need to do scheduled pruning to get rid of infected branches, leaves, and needles.
Rhizosphaera Needle Cast – The final disease on the list is the most challenging to spot. It doesn’t develop any visible signs on the tree before five months. The Colorado blue spruce is highly susceptible to this disease. Once the Rhizosphaera needle cast infects needles on lower branches it gradually moves upwards and can also create tiny fruiting bodies full of the fungus.
That’s why it’s important to thoroughly inspect your property for this fungus before you plant blue spruce. You can reduce the severity of the disease by mulching your tree vertically to improve water penetration and aeration. Make sure not to shear your trees when they have wet leaves since it spreads the disease.
Conclusion
As you can see there are several types of diseases that can attack your tree and wreak havoc if not controlled quickly. Keep a lookout for these diseases and hire professional help. To hire professionals for the job you can search for “tree service near me”.
