We have always been taught since a very young age that trees are also living beings. Their food is sunlight and they breathe in carbon dioxide. However, did you know that just like humans, trees have diseases too? If you want to keep the trees from getting diseased, you have to take care of them properly. More than often, you will need help of arborist services to deal with tree diseases.
There are various different tree diseases that belong to different categories. These categories include fungal diseases, bacterial diseases, infestation, leaf and stem diseases etc. While caring for your tree, you need to watch out for all these diseases. After all, trees provide us with food, shelter as well as adds a visual appeal to our gardens.
Most common tree diseases
The following are the most common tree diseases in the US. These will help you understand different tree diseases better and learn how to take care of your trees.
Verticillium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt is a type of vascular disease in trees. Vascular diseases are those diseases that affect the vascular system of a plant or a tree. Unfortunately, this disease has no cure at all. Maple and ash trees are specifically prone to this disease. Since Verticillium Wilt has no cure, it kills whichever plant it affects. There are various symptoms of the disease. Initially you will observe some leaf spots. Then the leaves will turn yellow and they will start to wilt and die.
This disease can be avoided, if not cured. Apple, walnut, sycamore and willow are some of the trees that are resistant to this disease. In case if the tree gets infected, you can still keep it from dying early by properly watering and fertilizing it.
Fire Blight
Fire blight is a type of a bacterial infection. It is extremely dangerous and can kill trees. Plants that are more prone to this type of a disease are rose, pear, spirea, apple, quince, mountain ash, crabapple, pyracantha, hawthorn, cotoneaster etc. Weather plays a major role in spreading this disease. Initial symptoms of fire blight include leaves looking burnt.
However, these leaves stay attached to the tree and do not fall off. This disease, like the previous two, also has no cure. However, it can be prevented from spreading to neighboring plants by pruning the dying trees. One important thing to keep in mind while pruning is to wash the pruning tools after every use. This will further help prevent the spread of Fire Blight.
Oak Wilt
Another type of a vascular disease is Oak Wilt. The disease is spread through insects carrying a fungus, Bretziella fagacearum, from tree to tree. Both the red and the white oak trees are infected by this. Just like Verticillium Wilt, this disease has no cure. You will also observe various symptoms for this disease.
Initially the leaves will be discolored. Then they will start falling off until the tree eventually dies. You can prevent this disease from happening to other trees by cutting off the infected tree. Make sure that you disinfect your pruning tools and wash them after every use. This way, you can hinder the spread of this disease to other plants.
Conclusion
There are many more tree diseases that we should be careful about. In order to keep the trees healthy and evergreen, we need to look out for all types of disease. The diseases mentioned above are some of the most common disease found in the US. If you notice that your trees are diseased and branches may fall at any moment, quickly call emergency tree services Chevy Chase for tree removal. They will be able to help you out in a much better way.
