Dr. Tree’S Guide to the Common Diseases of Urban Prairie Trees

By Xlibris US

Urban trees on the prairies are essential to our changing landscape environment. I have helped thousands of people with their tree problems over the past 43 years. Tree diseases and how to deal with them continue to plague a very large number of people. "Where can we get more information about these tree problems?" is a question I am constantly being asked. This book will help you to narrow the search for the problems plaguing your trees by going through the images and accompanied text. As well, there are also helpful detailed instructions on how to take care of the nutritional requirements of your trees. Keeping a tree healthy can reduce its susceptibility to diseases much as good nutrition does with people and animals. You can always reach me on line at www.treeexperts.mb.ca if you need any further help. Enjoy your trees!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493151349

Book preview

DEDICATION

To the memory of Professor Erik Jorgensen, 1921- 2012, formerly forest pathologist with the University of Toronto, and the creator of the concept of Urban Forestry. Erik inspired me as an undergraduate forester to go into urban forestry and to develop a lifelong interest in tree diseases.

Copyright © 2014 by Michael Allen. 141725-ALLE

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922324

ISBN: Softcover        978-1-4931-5132-5

ISBN: Hardcover       978-1-4931-5133-2

ISBN: EBook             978-1-4931-5134-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 06/20/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Over the years I have been urged by a number of people to put together a lay person’s guide on tree diseases for urban areas in the prairies. Arborists with the Prairie Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (I.S.A.) have been especially vocal in their request to get me to produce such a guide. I have given numerous presentations to the public and to the prairie arborists on tree diseases and tree pests. Invariably the public through horticultural and education organizations want me specifically to give them presentations on the care of fruit and coniferous evergreen trees. In all my presentations I invariably focus on managing tree diseases as a component of overall tree care. I should add that when I mention tree care I am also providing similar information on the care of woody shrubs.

I am indebted to Mr. Matt Vinet of Green Drop Tree Services and the current Manitoba director for the Prairie Chapter of I.S.A. for helping me organize tree disease presentations to the professional arborists and landscapers. Matt has suggested more than once I should get organized and produce a tree diseases book for the prairies.

I give at least two dozen workshops and presentations annually to the general public on tree care related topics. As a tree consultant in my business, Viburnum Tree Experts, for the last 12 years, I have diagnosed the problems with woody vegetation on at least 350 properties a year. I am constantly indebted to the general public’s insights into tree and woody shrub related problems as this provides me with the motivation to find answers to new disease and pest issues. There is a large component of the public that are motivated to find out what is going on with the trees and shrubs in their gardens. This is the reason as an urban forester that I am in this business. I like working with people.

Professor Eric Jorgensen, the originator of the urban forestry concept, once said ‘urban forestry is people forestry". I have dedicated this book to the memory of Erik.

I want to especially thank my editor, Ms. Joan Cohen who patiently re-worked virtually the entire original manuscript. Joan has edited a number of articles that I have submitted to the Manitoba Gardener and other magazines over the years.

Without the patient urgings from my wonderful wife Susan and son James, I am sure the manuscript would be left to gather dust on my office shelf or more likely in some long forgotten computer documents file. I thank them for their patience. Susan also did a tireless editorial and grammatical review of the document which gave me a whole new perspective on the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

General nature and behaviour of tree diseases

Organization of the book detailing specific diseases

Timing of treatment

Response to fungicide applications

Aeration and fertilization

Pruning

Collection of fallen diseased leaves, twigs and branches

Signs of tree stress

References to fungicides

Photo image credits

Alphabetical listing of trees mentioned in this book

Diseases of Deciduous Trees

Diseases of Coniferous Evergreen Trees

Bibliography

Glossary

List of Diseases Mentioned in Book

Epilogue

About the author

TREES GET SICK WITH DISEASES AS WELL

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Michael Allen © 2013

Introduction

If you have gotten this far into the book, you have obviously been curious or even worse, frustrated by what is happening to your trees. This book deals with common diseases that affect deciduous (leaf dropping) and coniferous (cone bearing) evergreen trees growing in urban areas, acreages, and farm shelterbelts in the prairie regions of Canada and the northern United States.

Why have I written this book? For many years I have looked in book stores and on-line on the internet for guide books for the lay person on tree diseases in urban, suburban and farm communities in the Canadian prairie provinces as well as the northern American prairie states. There simply is not such a book or detailed guide to be found. Having worked on the prairie provinces in the grasslands, parklands, foot hills and boreal forest regions from British Columbia to Manitoba for the last 30 or more years I was surprised to find that no such tree disease guide book existed that could help the typical property owner whether they lived in a town or city or in an agricultural rural area. There are lay person guides for tree identification, tree species selection for urban landscapes, and tree insects; however, I could find nothing for tree diseases. The study of tree diseases is called tree pathology. It is my hope that this book will help thousands of people on the prairies deal with the recognition and the treatments of their diseased trees.

For the professional forester, arborist, plant biologist, plant scientist and tree nursery field specialist there are two prominent guides produced by the Canadian Forestry Service on the nature of nearly all common tree diseases. Without that training it would be very difficult to figure out what diseases are affecting his or her trees. In addition the federal tree diseases guides are strongly focused on boreal forest coniferous trees both involving the same author: entitled ‘Forest Tree Diseases of the Prairie Provinces’ by Y. Hiratsuka, 1987. The other reference is by Y. Hiratsuka, D.W. Langor, and P.E. Crane, ‘A Field Guide to Forest Insects and Tree Diseases of the Prairie Provinces’, 1995. The latter book was revised as a second edition in 2004.

These books are far too complex for the average person not trained in pathology and tree identification to understand the problems with trees that grow in the prairie provinces and in the northern prairie states. The focus of these guides does not take an urban or a rural farm perspective. For sure, many of the diseases described in these books do occur in many prairie urban and rural communities. The language of scholarly tree pathology is like a foreign language. It takes a number of years of study and experience to understand the complexity of tree pathology. I have introduced the reader to some of the language describing the diseases of trees.

This book is not meant to be a complete reference of tree diseases that occur in urban and rural areas of the prairies. Although my intention is to provide up to date information on prairie tree diseases, I cannot guarantee that there are no errors or significant omissions. I would of course appreciate feedback comments from readers that I could incorporate in a future revised edition. Diseases are not static as they can change over a relatively short period of time. Black knot disease of Schubert choke cherry is a case in point. Twenty years ago it would have been rare to see one of these trees with the disease, but now it would be rare not to see this disease in these trees.

In the Bibliography I have added several other well-known book references including those produced by the government of Canada for tree diseases from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Again each of these books however is in my opinion too complicated for the average person to use as a field guide. In addition I have added a selection of book references to wood decay in trees, tree insects, and popular guides for the identification and planting of indigenous and nonindigenous prairie trees. There are of course numerous fungi that are found on trees but not mentioned specifically in this book. They are primarily decay fungi. The bibliography lists several references for decay fungi.

As an urban forester since 1977 I have specialized in helping people from all walks of life to deal with problems related to trees and woody shrubs. It has been my experience that the main professions that interface with the