TAR SPOT ON OXFORD MAPLE TREES

Tar spot is a tree disease that I see often as an applicator in Oxford, MI. Tar spot is one of the easier tree diseases to diagnose, as it leaves black circular spots on the leaves of a maple. They are called “tar spots” because the fungus looks like tar has been dropped on your leaves. For the most part this tree disease is a cosmetic problem.

I’ve never seen a tree in Oxford die from a tar spot infection, however a bad infection will cause almost every Maple leaf to be covered with large black spots, and it also can cause the leaves to drop early. Once your tree has tar spot it is going to be on the leaves for the rest of the summer. To reduce the chance of infection next year make sure to rake up as many of the infected leaves as possible. The infected leaves are what carry this tree disease from one year to the next.

The best way to control tar spot in is to schedule a tree spraying program in the spring. A tar spot control program would consist of us coming out and making sure the tree disease is indeed tar spot, then you would be put on a regular tree spraying program to have that tree or trees treated. The treatment would involve spraying the tree with fungicides; this will prevent the disease from forming on the leaf.

The fact that Tar Spot does not hurt the tree means a lot of homeowners in Oxford do not spray their trees for this particular tree disease. The problem with not treating tar spot is soon it spreads to all your neighbors trees; it does not take long for tar spot to affect an entire block. What I don’t like about tar spot is that maples are one of the most beautiful trees and known for its leaf, and tar spot makes them very ugly.

Apple Scab

What is apple scab? Apple scab is a disease to Malus trees (apple and crabapple trees). This disease is caused by the ascomycete fungus Venturia inaequalis. I know you are thinking...WHAT? When we think of apple scab in Michigan we think of an apple that has the brownish black dents in them or the crabapples that look bare and sickly by mid-July. But, apple scab is much more than this. Apple scab can affect tree leaves, buds or fruits. This disease is not a serious threat to these plants. However, if the tree is infected numerous times it may become very weak and become more susceptible to other insect or disease pests.

Apple Scab is dependent on cool, wet weather and infects tree leaves in the spring. In the late summer to early fall, apple scab infections can produce secondary spores and create new infections which will continue to infect the tree during wet periods. Wind and rain carry apple scab spores from infected leaves to new growth on nearby trees where new infections begin.

Owen Tree Service offers fungicide treatments to ensure your trees will be protected from apple scab. If you think you may have an apple scab problem give Owen Tree Service a call. Fungicide treatments are applied as new leaves are developing in the early spring. These treatments are started in April and continue through early June to ensure your chance of having apple scab is minimal. Apple scab not only ruins perfectly good apples it also takes away the beauty of your ornamental crabapple trees. When crabapple leaves start turning a dingy brown, black color it’s hard to admire the beauty of these ornamental trees. We spend tons of money making sure our yards, trees, and plants look stunning, so why take the chance of having your crabapple trees bare for half of the summer.

BLACK VINE WEEVIL

Black vine weevil was brought to the US on European nursery stock back in the mid-1800’s. This leaf-feeding insect is well established now throughout the Flint, MI area wherever yews are used as a landscape plant. These small insects are rarely seen because they are nocturnal feeders, but the crescent-shaped gouges left in the shrub leaves they feed on can easily be found. Black vine weevil feeding damage on yew shrubs is sometimes hard to find as the dense foliage obscures the notches, but on rhododendrons, holly shrubs, Japanese pieris, and euonymus it is usually pretty easy to spot. 

Although it is the notches that black vine weevils create that attract our attention, it’s the larval damage to the roots of plants that should be of most concern. Adult black vine weevils emerge in the Flint area in May and June and feed until fall.  The grubs, which are the larval form of black vine weevil, feed on shrub roots and stems until the ground temperatures force them deeper into the soil to hibernate. 

Homeowners can take some simple steps to reduce black vine weevil grub survival. Keep landscape mulch from becoming too deep and don’t overwater your shrubs - especially in July and August when the newly hatched grubs are most active. High soil moisture and over mulching can lead to grub feeding on the stems of susceptible plants, and girdled stems lead to extremely stressed or dead shrubs. 

Spraying susceptible shrub species, starting in the early summer, is effective at controlling adult black vine weevil insects and limiting the amount of foliar damage to your shrubs. In the Flint area we start spraying for black vine weevil adults in June and recommend follow up treatments in July and August.

The most common plants attacked by black vine weevil are yew shrubs, rhododendron, holly shrubs, Japanese pieris, or euonymus. If you have these shrub species in your landscape you may want to have your plants checked for black vine weevil feeding damage.

JAPANESE BEETLES ON TREES & SHRUBS IN GRAND BLANC

Japanese beetles are starting to hatch out in the Grand Blanc area. First discovered in the United States in 1916, the adult Japanese beetle lives for 30 to 45 days. These insects feed heavily on several common landscaping plants used in Grand Blanc including, flowering crabapple, Japanese maple trees, linden trees, Norway maple, ornamental cherry trees, rose bushes and sycamore trees.

Using Japanese Beetle Traps

Japanese beetle traps are highly effective at attracting adult beetles, but do not necessarily prevent damage to your ornamental trees or shrubs. If you decide to give Japanese beetle traps a try, place them on the border of your property and away from susceptible landscape plants.

Because Japanese beetles move around extensively, frequent tree spray applications may be needed to keep the beetles from causing significant damage to valuable landscape trees. Even with a tree spray program some feeding damage is likely to occur. Our Japanese beetle control program includes up to three tree sprays starting in late June to early July, and continuing through early to mid-August.

After Japanese Beetles Are Gone

The larva of the Japanese beetle is a white grub that feeds heavily on grass roots. Grub feeding in August puts a lot of stress on a lawn because of warm weather and drought stress. If you’ve experienced a lot of Japanese beetle adults feeding on your trees there is going to be some eggs laid in your lawn. You might need to consider a grub control treatment for your lawn to minimize feeding damage from grubs.

BROWN FOLIAGE ON JUNIPER PLANTS

                        

Phomopsis blight is a fungal disease that affects juniper shrubs, and to a lesser extent, cypress, false cypress and arborvitae plants. This disease infects the foliage and then can move into smaller stems and kill them by creating cankers and girdling the stem. Larger stems can also develop cankers but usually don’t die back.

Plant tissue infected with Phomopsis blight fades to a lighter green before dying and turning a reddish brown color. Drought stressed plants can show similar dieback but the line between live and dead tissue is not as clear as it is with Phomopsis. Other needle blights in junipers usually begin with older needles and work their way up the stem but Phomopsis starts at the tip and works down toward the center of the shrub.

Another disease, Kabatina blight is, to the naked eye, nearly indistinguishable from Phomopsis but is active earlier in the year. Kabatina blight can become active as early as March in Michigan.  Kabatina is infective in the fall of the previous year. Phomopsis is active in late March and April and again in August and September, and the dieback can occur any time during the season. Even short periods of high humidity and temperatures can initiate the development of Phomopsis spores. 

Control of Phomopsis blight involves planting resistant varieties, spacing new plants so they can dry, avoiding shaded areas, watering in the morning so the foliage can dry, and pruning on dry summer days.

Because this shrub disease is hard to diagnose in the field it may be necessary to submit a foliage sample to a laboratory before starting a fungicide program. Phomopsis blight can be reduced with a regimen of proper watering, adequate soil fertility, sanitation pruning, and spraying with fungicides when necessary. 

SCALE INSECTS

Scale insects spend most of their life as an immobile bump on a leaf or stem, siphoning off fluids from the host plant. Some scale insects excrete a fluid called honeydew that attracts a variety of nuisance pests like ants, bees and wasps to feed on the sweet exudates. The honeydew also is a great growth medium for sooty mold, a black staining mold that can cause a sticky mess on a car or driveway or anything beneath it. 

           

There are two broad categories of scale insects, soft and armored scales.  Armored scales are, as one might expect have a rigid and hard body covering, like pine needle scale or oystershell scale. Soft scale insects are squishy and juicy and are best exemplified by the magnolia scale. These body coverings, coupled with their immobile nature, can make scale insects very hard to control.

Most scale control strategies revolve around trying to kill the vulnerable crawlers (newly hatched scale insects) and many insecticides are labeled for this purpose. The problem is that each scale insect species has a different time when the crawlers appear and some have more than one generation of crawlers per year. Dormant oils can help suppress over wintering adults and prevent some egg hatch, but the need for thorough coverage (as in every square inch) makes this hard for larger trees. Another factor is location and the pests can often be found in greater numbers when the plants are sheltered from the elements or surrounded by paving.  Stressed plants are also more often infested with scale insects. Even if you get control of the scale insects the other factors that make the plant vulnerable are beyond your control so they can become re-infested. 

           

In recent years some systemic products that target feeding adults have become available. Armored scale insects are susceptible to a product called Safari and soft scales can be controlled with Merit.  Acephate injections can provide a fairly quick kill but have a short residual in the tree.  An acephate injection followed by an imidicloprid (Merit) treatment will provide an immediate and more lasting control for scales like cottony maple scale. 

           

UNUSUAL GROWTHS ON YOUR OAK TREE?

Are you seeing knotted twigs with round growths on your pin oak trees?

On closer examination, the affected branches have gray-brown, round galls with many small teeth or horns protruding from the galls. These galls are called horned oak galls. Heavily infested oak trees can become so heavily knotted that the tree becomes unsightly, particularly in winter, without benefit of leaf cover.

Horned oak galls are caused by a tiny (1/8 inch long) wasp. The female gall wasps emerge from twig galls in May and fly to oak leaves to deposit eggs. The larvae cause galls to form in the veins of the oak leaves. In midsummer adult wasps emerge from the vein galls, mate and deposit eggs in twigs. The twig galls usually require two years to reach maximum size.

There’s a couple times each season when oak trees can be sprayed to control horned oak galls. Infested pin oak trees can be sprayed in mid-May when wasps emerge from twig galls and again in mid-summer when the next generation of wasps emerge form vein galls.

Horned oak gall. Photo courtesey of John A. Weidhass, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org

Horned oak gall. Photo:  Lacy L. Hyche, Auburn University, Bugwood.org

Don't Bury That Tree!

Trees need to be planted in the ground, but planting too deep is a sure way to kill a tree and throw away the money invested on purchasing and planting it.

In southeast Michigan, spring is the prime season for tree planting, and is when homeowners consider doing their major landscaping work for the season. In the case of transplanting a tree, proper planting is absolutely critical. No amount of proper watering, pruning, and fertilizing can save a tree where the root ball has been planted too deep.

Nursery trees are available as:

1. Bare-Root: The tree is sold with the roots packed in a medium that retains moisture to protect the roots, and then is covered in paper or plastic. Before planting, the covering paper or plastic must be removed, and the roots must then be moistened. When the tree is placed in the planting hole spread the roots out evenly.
2. Balled and Burlapped (B & B): The tree is moved with a ball of soil to protect the root system. B & B trees will be heavy so professional arborists with the proper equipment should be hired for planting of larger trees. Smaller trees should be carried with a hand under the root ball. Lifting by the stem or tree branches can lead to serious root damage. To plant, set the root ball in the hole, adjust the position of the tree as necessary, then remove any twine and nails. Remove the burlap from the upper third of the root ball. Some soil may need to be removed from the top of the root ball to find the root flare at the base of the tree trunk.
3. Container: Trees grown in a pot have the advantage of root systems that are relatively undisturbed at the time of planting. The consumer should beware of “pot-bound” container trees, which have large amounts of roots completely circling the inside of the pot. Since roots should extend outward from the tree, these trees will have difficulty becoming established after planting as the thick ring of circling roots will hinder the outward spread of the root system. Immediately prior to planting container trees, remove the container and then prune the roots by up to 50 percent. This may seem like a lot, but still leaves sufficient root system for healthy plant establishment. By comparison, B & B trees only require a root pruning of about 10 percent or less.

Tree Planting Guidelines:

• To determine the size of the planting hole you need to dig measure the height and diameter of the root ball or root spread.
• Make the hole 1 to 3 inches shallower than the root ball or root depth. The diameter of the hole should be wider than the root ball or root spread.
• Place the tree on solid, undisturbed ground in the center of the planting hole. The tree should be planted so that the root flare is visible and above ground level.
• Fill the hole with the same soil that was dug out to make the hole. Use water to pack or settle the soil around the root ball.
• 2 to 4 inches of mulch should be placed around the tree to conserve soil moisture. Do not apply mulch against the trunk of the tree.
• After planting, prune the tree to remove any branches that may be broken, damaged, diseased or dead.
• Stake and/or protect the trunk of the tree as necessary to guard against possible wind damage or lawn mower injury. Remove the support wires and staking when no longer necessary or when the wires could damage or kill the tree by girdling.
• Prune the tree to promote a good branch structure once the tree has become established in its new location - usually 1 to 3 years after planting.  Never remove more than a quarter of total foliage in a single year.
• Tree fertilizing isn’t necessary at the time of planting, but it is OK to apply root stimulants.

The best advice for protecting your investment in a new tree and to insure a safe and healthy transplanting is to hire a tree care professional with the proper equipment, experience, and expertise to safely plant trees. Before hiring a company for this work, require proof of liability insurance.

Homeowners in Oakland, Genesee, Macomb, and Lapeer County, Michigan who are looking for advice and recommendations on purchasing and transplanting new trees should consult a professional arborist. For your own sake, make sure that the company you choose for landscaping or to do any work on your trees is insured, certified, and trained.

SHOULD WINTER DAMAGED EVERGREENS BE PRUNED NOW?

No doubt you have been noticing brown, dead patches in your evergreens this spring. This is the plant’s response to the extremely harsh winter. Your first impulse may be to prune out the damaged foliage and dead twigs. This might seem to make perfect sense, but wait!

While the dead needles and leaves will not green up and they will drop off later in the season, there are buds on the twigs that might produce new foliage and twigs. If pruned too early in spring these buds will be removed, greatly affecting the plants’ recovery and appearance.

Because of the very cold and windy winter, some of the buds may have been killed as well. However, we won’t know what parts of the plants have survived until mid-late May.

So, put down the pruners and be patient. Let’s see what will grow on your damaged evergreens and then remove just the dead portions of your damaged tree or shrub.

 Evergreen tree showing signs of winter burn.

Boxwood shrub leaves turned yellow above the snow line from winter burn.

GYPSY MOTHS IN LAPEER, MI

Occasional flare-ups of gypsy moth populations are not uncommon around Lapeer due to the number of trees and the species of trees found in the area. We do occasionally receive calls from homeowners that think they have gypsy moth, but it turns out to be less damaging caterpillars – usually eastern tent caterpillars or forest tent caterpillars.

Gypsy moth caterpillars have five rows of blue dots followed by six rows of red dots along its back, front to rear. The eastern tent caterpillar has a white stripe running the length of its back. The forest tent caterpillar has a series of “keyhole” shaped, yellowish dots running the length of its back. Each of these different caterpillar species get rather large and are hairy.

Here’s what to do to determine if you actually have gypsy moth caterpillars and what actions you can take if it turns out you do have gypsy moth caterpillars on your trees.

Do you know what kind of trees you have on your property?

It’s less likely you have gypsy moth caterpillars on your trees if you don’t have any trees they like to eat. Gypsy moth prefers to feed on oak, aspen (poplar), birch, crabapple and willow trees. We have found them feeding on other tree species (even spruce trees), but this is only when their population is at its peak.

Where can you find gypsy moth egg masses?

Look on the underside of tree branches, on tree trunks, under house overhangs, or the underside of bird baths. Almost any object in your yard could have gypsy moth eggs masses on it. Gypsy moth eggs masses are gold, brown, or tan colored, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, and oval shaped. The egg masses are flattened against whatever they are laid on and are covered with fine hairs.

What can be done to control gypsy moth caterpillars?

In Lapeer, gypsy moth caterpillars start hatching in mid-May with peak feeding injury occurring in mid to late June. The safest treatment for gypsy moth caterpillars is to spray infested trees with Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t) when the caterpillars are small. However, B.t. is not effective for control of gypsy moth when the caterpillars are greater than one half inch long.

Controlling larger gypsy moth caterpillars can be done with any one of several registered traditional insecticides labeled for control of gypsy moths. Most insecticides labeled for control of gypsy moth will work both on contact and leave a residual on the foliage that will control caterpillars that show up after the tree spraying is done.

What if defoliation from gypsy moth caterpillars has already occurred?

Gypsy moth caterpillars are heavy feeders and can consume 100% of the foliage on a tree. A couple years of heavy defoliation can kill even a mature tree in your landscape. All trees infested with gypsy moth caterpillars should be given adequate water and fertilizer to help them recover. Any amount of defoliation from gypsy moth caterpillars may cause some branch dieback, so pruning may also be necessary.

EASTERN TENT CATERPILLARS

The silken nests of eastern tent caterpillars will be starting to appear in the Shelby Township area soon. The eastern tent caterpillar is partial to cherry, apple, and crabapple trees, but they’re not opposed to infesting your peach, plum and pear trees, as well.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Damage

The eastern tent caterpillar can potentially defoliate a small to mid size tree.

Identification

The silk nest is a dead giveaway that you have eastern tent caterpillars in your tree. As soon as the young caterpillars hatch from the egg mass they will look for the nearest suitable crotch in the tree (branch or main stem) and begin construction of a nest. The eastern tent caterpillar nest is built in layers. With each succeeding layer the nest grows in size. Depending upon the number of individuals in the colony, a mature eastern tent caterpillar nest may range in size from a baseball to a softball. The nest is home base for the colony. They move in and out of the nest several times throughout the course of a day.

Homeowners in Shelby Twp. occasionally confuse the eastern tent caterpillar with the gypsy moth caterpillar. Both grow to be big hairy caterpillars and both occur in the spring. However, in Shelby Twp. the eastern tent caterpillar hatches nearly a month before the gypsy moth. The eastern tent caterpillar also looks different from the gypsy moth. Where the gypsy moth has a series of blue dots followed by red dots on its back, the eastern tent caterpillar has a white stripe down the middle of its back.

The eastern tent caterpillar does not appear in your tree out of the blue. The egg mass was probably there since the previous summer (July). Once the leaves fall, the egg mass is easier to spot. It looks like a dark swelling of a twig or small branch. The eggs are covered with an excreted fluid that hardens and takes on the appearance of a shiny dark varnish. The caterpillars hatch early in the spring because the embryo is completely developed by first frost. An egg mass will contain 150 to 350 eggs.

There are several means available to control eastern tent caterpillar.

Cultural Control

As soon as the leaves fall, check susceptible tree species in your landscape. Pay special attention to any trees that had a nest the previous spring. The egg masses can be removed by hand. This control method is particularly effective on your smaller trees, which can be completely examined. You can either scrape off the egg masses or clip off the branch if it’s not going to affect the appearance of the tree.

If you see tents being formed in the spring you can remove the actual nest. Wind up the nest and caterpillars on a stick and dispose of them in your garbage.

Biological Control

There are several natural enemies that attack and thrive on eastern tent caterpillars in Shelby Township. In particular, the northern oriole thinks it has died and gone to heaven when they find a tree with eastern tent caterpillars. Also attacking eastern tent caterpillars is a parasitic fly which looks like an overgrown house fly. The fly maggot burrows into the caterpillar, but doesn’t finish it off until it pupates. There are also other birds, beetles and wasps that dine on this caterpillar.

Chemical Control

Tree spraying options include both organic and traditional insecticides. If the caterpillars are less than 1/2 inch in length a Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t) spray can be applied. For larger caterpillars, there are several insecticides labeled for control of eastern tent caterpillars.

SWISS NEEDLECAST OF DOUGLAS-FIR

Douglas-fir trees are susceptible to two needlecast diseases, Swiss Needlecast and Rhabdocline. The more common of these two diseases we see in southeast Michigan is Swiss Needlecast.

Douglas-fir needles infected with Swiss Needlecast will show a yellowing and browning of the tips in the spring and summer but never any mottling. Needles are cast one or two years after infection during the late fall and winter. In severe infections of Swiss Needlecast only the current year’s needles may remain on the tree.

To confirm that Swiss needlecast has infected your tree examine the undersides of the needles in the spring. Look for two rows of small black fruiting bodies, one on each side of the mid-rib of the needle. The black fruiting bodies protrude from the air exchange holes (stomata), which normally appear as small white dots. Spores from Swiss Needlecast are mostly moved by rain splash or irrigation systems. Thus, Swiss Needlecast disease usually spreads only to nearby trees. New needles are susceptible to Swiss Needlecast infection when all buds have broken and needles are elongating.

Cultural Control of Swiss Needlecast

Weed control under Douglas-fir trees and adequate plant spacing allow better air circulation and thus the drying of rain and dew moistened needles. Such practices can have a major impact on the severity of this disease because Swiss Needlecast primarily affects the lower branches and infection depends on prolonged periods of needle wetness.

Chemical Control of Swiss Needlecast

Several fungicides are registered for the control of Swiss Needlecast. Infection usually begins in late spring and continues into the early summer. Fungicide applications should be applied when new shoots are 1/2 to 2 inches long.

Depending on general weather conditions in the spring two or three fungicide applications should be sufficient to control Swiss Needlecast.

BOXELDER BUGS IN THE HOME

What's 12.5 millimeters long with a dark brown or black coloration relieved by red wing veins and markings on the abdomen while its nymphs are bright red? This bug releases a pungent and bad tasting compound upon being disturbed to discourage predation.  You guessed it, the boxelder bug. Scientist say these annoying pests are found primarily on boxelder trees but if your home is anything like mine they seem to migrate on the outside of your house or even worse, in your home!

How do you get control of these bugs that seem to never go away in the spring and summer time? I have looked for home remedies on pinterest, facebook, and google but always seem to come up short. Sure, these home remedies will stop the problem for a couple of days but this is something you want to stop long term. Boxelder bugs are attracted to "female" boxelder trees, maple trees, and ash trees. Removing these tree species from your property is one fix this nasty problem. Only issue with this is the hassle of doing this work on your own with the busy lifestyles we all encounter day to day. Plus, the trees where the boxelder bugs are coming from might not even be on your property.

Did you know that 90% of all insects that get into your home come from outside? Nine times out of 10 the only way to get rid of these bugs and keep them away would be to get the perimeter of your home sprayed. A perimeter pest control program creates a barrier around your home that keeps invading insects outside. Our perimeter pest control takes only five treatments starting in the spring with follow up treatments once every 4-6 weeks for ongoing insect control. Not only will this program take care of boxelder bugs it will also stop spiders, roaches, fleas, ants, ticks, crickets, bees, hornets, and earwigs from coming into your house. 

Take care of this problem before it happens. Call Owen Tree Service today to set up your perimeter pest control treatments.

APPLE SCAB CONTROL

Apple scab is a frequent problem for any Lapeer, MI landscapes with crabapple trees. The apple scab fungus may be found growing on the crabapple fruit itself, the leaf, leaf and fruit stems, or the green twigs of the crabapple. I’m surprised at how many Lapeer homeowners I speak with that are unaware that apple scab is a tree disease that can be controlled with the right treatments.

Apple scab is easy to diagnose, especially if it is on the leaves or the fruit of your crabapple tree. Anyone with a computer can find numerous photos of apple scab infected leaves and confirm that their crabapple tree has apple scab.

As a resident of Lapeer I see numerous examples of crabapple trees infected with apple scab fungus. Apple scab is caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis, which also can affect apple, hawthorn, mountain ash, and firethorn. Because apple scab is a fungal disease, fungicides are used to control it. Apple scab can be hard to prevent if fungicide treatments are not started at the right time. To control primary infections you want to start the fungicide program shortly after the crabapples start to leaf out, which is usually around mid-April in Lapeer. I’ve found that the best control of apple scab is obtained when at least three fungicide treatments are applies throughout the spring.

Apple scab spores are always present in our environment, so it would be necessary to have these fungicide treatments applied every spring. If you need more information on apple scab call us at 800-724-6680 or you can find out more information about apple scab at: http://www.owentree.com/apple_scab.html

WHAT INSECTS ARE CONTROLLED BY DORMANT OIL TREE SPRAYS?

Spraying trees with dormant oil is one of the first applications we apply. This tree spray is designed to control overwintering insect adults and eggs. Dormant oil can also be used at a lower rate after trees leaf out. Dormant oil tree sprays are desirable to use whenever possible because they control some plant-feeding insects with little impact on beneficial insects. A frequent question we receive from homeowners is “What insects do dormant oil tree sprays control?”

Here is a list of common landscape insects and the level of control that can be expected with dormant oil tree sprays:

INSECT / MITE	CONTROL
Apple aphid on crabapple	Poor
Birch aphid	Poor
Cottony maple scale crawlers	Good
Eastern tent caterpillar	Poor
Elm leaf beetle eggs	Good
Elm leaf beetle larvae	Poor-Good
Euonymus scale crawlers	Good
European pine sawfly	Good
Golden oak scale crawlers	Good
Honeylocust leafhopper	Good
Honeylocust plant bug	Good
Honeylocust spider mite	Poor
Imported willow leaf beetle	Poor
Japanese beetle adults	None
Pine needle scale crawlers	Good
Pine tortoise scale crawlers	Poor-Good
Spruce spider mite	Poor
Sycamore lacebug	Good
Sycamore plant bug	None

None = 0-20% control

Poor = 20-60% control

Good = 60-100% control

The type of landscape plants on your property dictates whether or not your plants would benefit from a dormant oil tree spraying. If you’re not sure if a dormant oil spray would help your plants give us a call. We will have an ISA Certified Arborist inspect your plants and leave you written recommendations on what type of insect, disease, or mite treatments you may need to keep your trees and shrubs free of damaging pests.

CONTROLLING DIPLODIA TIP BLIGHT IN BLOOMFIELD HILLS

Diplodia tip blight is a very common fungal disease on pines in Bloomfield Hills. Austrian pine, mugo pine, and Scots (scotch) pine are the pine species most commonly infected with Diplodia tip blight.

Typical symptoms of Diplodia tip blight include dieback of the growing tips - hence the disease name. The fruiting bodies of Diplodia tip blight can easily be observed since they appear as pepper sprinkled over the surface of woody tissue. During a severe outbreak of Diplodia tip blight, a high percentage of the tips of a particular tree may be affected and will give the tree a brownish cast. Expanding buds, elongating candles or entire branches may be affected. Occasionally, only needles will be blighted. Affected needles remain on the tree, and in some instances entire trees may be killed. Diplodia tip blight can be confused with other problems such as the European pine shoot tip moth.

Diplodia tip blight fungus overwinters as maturing reproductive structures on cones, dead needles, or the needle sheath. Reproductive structures release millions of spores which may be splashed to emerging growth and cause infection. Two year old cone scales are an efficient source of fungus spores for infection. This is why mature pine trees (20 plus years) with abundant cones are most severely affected.

Controlling Diplodia tip blight without chemical fungicides is virtually impossible. A proper planting site and reduction of stress can reduce the severity of Diplodia tip blight. Pine trees infected with Diplodia tip blight should be periodically fertilized to maintain their health. Pruning infected pine trees will help the appearance of the tree but will not reduce Diplodia tip blight activity to any significant extent.

Fungicide applications are necessary to reduce the level of Diplodia tip blight activity. The first application should be made just before or during bud swell. This time will vary from year to year, and with the pine species, but is usually around mid-April in Bloomfield Hills. A minimum of two fungicide treatments should be applied, but better control of Diplodia tip blight will be obtained with a third fungicide treatment.

REMOVING A TREE FROM A PHONE LINE

Earlier this week the Owen Tree crew had an unusual project for a local communication company. The communication company called because a tree had fallen on their phone line and they said it had stretched the phone line all the way to the ground. When our arborist arrived at the location he observed that the phone line had indeed been pulled all the way to the ground, but was still attached to both telephone poles! The phone line looked to be carrying a heavy load of pressure (tension) holding the line to the ground.

This can be a very dangerous situation for not just the crew performing the tree removal, but to any surrounding structures, people, or vehicular traffic. Our concern was that if the weight of the tree was suddenly removed from the phone line it would go flying into the air. The pressure on a phone line in this situation is similar to pulling back on a slingshot. Removing a tree from a phone line in this scenario can be a serious problem if not executed with extreme caution.

Although there are different ways to approach this situation this is how the crew of Owen Tree handled this particular tree removal. Before starting any cutting of the tree that was holding the line to the ground, the phone line had to be secured in the position that the heavy tree had put it in. This was done by using a 1/2 inch work rope and a 5/8 work rope to keep the phone line in place, at ground level. This allowed the tree removal crew to start relieving some of the weight that held the phone line down. With each piece of the tree that was cut the danger of the line catapulting the tree, or any other debris, increased. With this in mind we had one crew member designated to watching the phone line and the tree at all times while weight was being cut from the tree to assure safety to the crew.

With the line being secured to the ground and the tree being gradually cleared from the phone line, if there was any tension on the phone line the crew would be able to use the work ropes they secured to the phone line to slowly allow the line to pull it self in to it's normal position - 20 feet above the ground. However, after the tree was cleared from the phone line the crew members were relieved to discover that there was not as much pressure on the line as was first thought. Some of the precautions we took in setting up the work and our cautious approach to cutting the tree weren’t necessary, but we didn’t mind. It was all for the better and it made the tree removal much easier and safer to perform.

INFO ON DIPLODIA TIP BLIGHT

We've put up a new page on the Owen Tree Service website on Diplodia Tip Blight. This tree disease affects many pine trees used in landscaping in southeast Michigan.

You can see the new webpage at: http://www.owentree.com/Diplodia_Tip_Blight.html

Tree Removal in Flint, MI

Owen Tree Service received a call on January 29th to look at a tree for a homeowner in Flint. The home was in the area of Belsay Rd. and Carpenter Rd. The customer said that her 70 foot sugar maple was making noises and she was concerned because the tree was only 10 feet from her home.

When the Owen Tree arborist arrived at the location he inspected the tree and diagnosed the problem to be three 15 foot cracks in the 35 inch maple trunk on three different sides of the tree! The homeowner wisely decided to have Owen Tree Service remove the tree the following day before it fell on her home. This was a potential disaster waiting to happen.

Our tree removal crew quickly assessed that this would not be a normal tree removal due to the fact of not being able to have any shock load on the structure of the tree because of the weakened condition of the tree trunk. A shock load is when the weight of a tree limb or piece of wood is put on a rope that has been ran through a tree crotch or pulley that is attached to an opposite section of the tree to move the object from one side of the tree to the other. This technique is used in most cases when removing trees or tree limbs over a structure. 

                      Photo 1. One of the cracks in the tree trunk is visible on the left side of the photo.

The crew realized that the first order of business would be to stabilize the tree trunk to keep it together during the tree removal. This was done by using a 5 inch ratchet strap, a chain and binder, and large diameter rope to secure the trunk from splitting apart during the removal process. With this completed, the tree was stable and ready to be removed. The first task was to alleviate the weight in the top of the tree to lighten the stress on the three cracks that were in the lower trunk. Once this was done the crew was able to rig and rope the sections that were over the house.  

 

   

  

Photo 2 & 3. As soon as the ratchet strap was removed the tree trunk fell apart.

 

 Photo 4. The bottom of the tree trunk - looking towards the top of the tree.

This tree removal went very well thanks to the Owen Tree Service team whose experiences came together to make this job safe for everyone involved. A situation that could have been a fallen tree on a house ended up being a complicated, but uneventful, tree removal.

This particular job shows the importance of having periodic tree inspections performed by a qualified arborist. If you are concerned about the condition of any mature trees on your property contact us for a Hazardous Tree Assessment or learn more about hazardous trees at: http://www.owentree.com/Hazardous_Trees.html