STRIPPERS FOUND IN TREES

It’s late winter, the ground is frozen, and it #$%& COLD! The deep snow doesn’t help things either when it comes to finding a food source. That’s when we take to the trees and start stripping. That’s right we strip off as much as we need to get to get the job done. We don’t usually take it all off just enough here and there to fill our everyday needs.

So, if you’re interested in seeing this late winter festivity, all you’ve got to do is come over to our neighborhood forest and look up. There we’ll be, doing our thing, stripping in the trees.

Now, of course, you really didn’t think you would see someone actually stripping, did you? What you will see is something being stripped. That’s right; the trees are being stripped of their bark for the nutrients found under it. This is where the trees grow from and the inner bark contains nutrients that can sustain us for the rest of the winter - or at least until people start filling their bird feeders again.

Yours truly,

Mr. Squirrel

                    Squirrels have caused substiantial damage to this sugar maple tree.

                     Squirrel chewing is going to cause many of these sugar maple branches to die.

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.