Tree and Shrub: Fungus and disease

Depending on the size of the plant and what's infecting it, a fungicide spray or injection may be recommended. Usually, the best time to treat for a fungus problem is early spring before bud break and and then follow up as needed. If you have noted damage done in previous years, your trees may need treated before the visual signs of fungus appear in spring or summer again. Below is some information on some of the common tree and shrub diseases that may effect our landscape.

	Anthracnose Anthracnose affects a wide variety of deciduous trees and shrubs; infecting stems, branches, leaves and/or fruit of the plant. Symptoms can include: necrotic spots, irregular dead blotches... Read more
	Cankers Cankers are dead areas on the branches, twigs, or trunck of the tree between the live tissue and the bark. Cankers may be caused by disease, fungus, bacteria or injury to the tree... Read more
	Chlorosis Chlorosis is a defienciancy of iron in trees and shrubs. Leaves will exhibit yellowing of the leaf while the veins remain green. Prolonged iron defiency may result in defoliation, dieback of branches... Read more
	Diplodia Tip Blight Diplodia is a fungus that causes tip blight which disfigures pines, though the Austrian Pine seems more vulnerable. This fungus is not usually fatal though can seriously disfigure a tree and weaken it... Read more
	Dutch Elm Disease Dutch Elm Disease is spread through the native elm bark beetle and the smaller European elm beetle. As these beetles feed on the elm tree, they introduce a fungus which spreads... Read more
	Fire Blight Fire Blight is a common disease which can infect fruiting trees such as pear, apple, crabapple, hawthrone, and other related trees. Visually, clusters of flowers may begin to wilt and turn brown... Read more
	Leaf Spots Leaf spot is damage to the tissue of tree or shrub leaves, caused by fungus, bacteria, air pollution, insects or weather. The damaged leaf will begin to exhibit spots, ranging in size from... Read more
	Needlecast Needle cast can be caused by a variety of fungal diseases on trees. The first visual sign is discoloration of the needle, yellow or light green spots will appear prior to the needle turning red or brown... Read more
	Oak Wilt Oak Wilt affects all species of oaks, including: Red, White and Texas Live oaks. The fungus is transferred through two ways; underground through the root system or though insects. Read more
	Powdery Mildew Powdery Mildew is a relatively easy disease to spot when it infects trees and shrubs in the landscape. Although the disease will not kill the plant outright, it will compromise the vigor of the tree or... Read more
	Rust Rust can appear in many forms when it affects trees and shrubs, from trunk splitting galls to orange leaf discoloration. Depending on what plant is infected with this fungus will determine the visual symptoms... Read more
	Scab Scab is a common disease on apples, crabapples, hawthorn, mountain-ash, cotoneaster, firethorn and pears. Apple scab lives on infected leaves and fruit of the plant and can spread with the spring rains... Read more
	Scorch leaf scorch appears as browning or discoloring of the leaf margin which gradually consumes the remaining tissue of the leaf. Bacterial leaf scorch reoccurs year after year, slowly defoliating... Read more
	Sooty Molds Sooty mold is more of a cosmetic problem in trees and shrubs than anything. It appears as black areas of mold on leaves and needles of the plant (as well as under the infected plant on drives... Read more
	Sudden Oak Death Sudden oak death can infect more than 30 species of plants and spreads as spores are picked up by rain, wind, insect, animal or mechanical means. Visually, when a plant is suffering from sudden oak death... Read more
	Verticillium Wilt Verticillium Wilt is a soil-borne fungus which can infect a variety of trees and shrubs. It is difficult to control verticillium wilt because the host which needs treated is the soil, not the plant nessasariely... Read more

Fungicides may be used as a preventative or corrective measure; they can work by either preventing or interfering with the germination process of the fungal spores or destroy the fungus outright. Contact fungicides will not be absorbed by the plant’s tissue and will only remain active on the surface of the plant in the location applied. This is beneficial since it rarely leads to the fungi building a resistance against the fungicide since the residual does not last long. Penetration fungicides may also be an option. This sort of fungicide not only penetrates the leaf of the plant (in which it can then travel to other portions of the plant) but may also be used as a contact fungicide. Penetration fungicides can be used to protect new growth from potential fungus attacks.

Grounds Services, Inc. offers a variety of services for your lawn care needs. To schedule a technician visit and/or receive a free estimate, contact us today at 419-536-4344.