Spring is a time for new beginnings in your Long Grove, Illinois landscape. It is also the right time for protecting your trees with spring leaf disease applications. The first preventative application should be done in spring, when new growth starts. Follow-up sprays are necessary throughout the season for best control. The tree care team at McGinty Bros. will help you maintain the health and vigor of your trees with our timely fungicide applications.
What Leaf Diseases Do We Fight in the Long Grove, IL Area?
The most common leaf/needle diseases that we control with seasonal applications are:
- Apple scab disease on flowering crabapples
- Rust disease on hawthorns
- Diplodia and Dothistroma disease on Austrian pines
- Needle cast disease on Colorado spruces
What is Apple Scab Disease?
Apple scab is caused by a fungus that infects the leaves and fruit of apple and crabapple trees. Infected leaves have round, velvety, dark spots on them, and the leaves will turn yellow and fall off earlier than the healthy leaves. The loss of the leaves is bad for the tree, weakening the tree if it happens multiple years in a row. Infected fruit have round, olive-green spots on them that turn into a brown, cork-like scab over time, deforming the fruit.
The most effective way to manage apple scab disease is by planting varieties that are resistant to the disease. If you have trees with apple scab, we can apply a fungicide to help control it. It’s important to get the sprays timed correctly throughout the year.
What is Rust Disease?
The rust disease we encounter most of the time in the Long Grove area is called Cedar-Hawthorn Rust, and it is also caused by a fungus. An infected hawthorn tree will start out with small yellow spots on its leaves in the spring. The spots grow and turn orange, and they get black dots in them. By mid-summer, you may notice tubes on the underside of the infected leaves. Infected leaves may turn bright yellow and fall too soon.
This type of rust spreads between different types of trees. We have a fungicide to help manage the spread. You can also help by removing the infected leaves and twigs as soon as you spot them.
What is Diplodia and Dothistroma Disease?
Diplodia blight is a fungal disease that affects twigs and branches on Austrian pines. We usually find it on mature pines that have a history of stress after a drought or poor growing conditions. The tell-tale signs of the disease are stunted, brown new growth at the ends of branches. When the disease is very severe, there will not be much green growth, and a canker grows around the limb, causing it to die.
Dothistroma needle blight is another fungal disease that affects Austrian pines. Yellow spots appear on fully-grown needles, and then a brown band surrounds the needle, turning the needle tan. The fungal spores spread from needle to needle, and most commonly multiplies during spring rains.
Quite often, Austrian pines will have both of these diseases. We control them both with a fungicide spray application once a year. It does not kill the disease entirely, but it does help reduce the effects of the disease.
What is Needle Cast Disease?
Needle cast disease is caused by a fungus, and it affects Colorado Spruce trees, which are not native to our area, and are therefore more susceptible to disease. You probably won’t notice the effects of the disease until two or three years after the tree has been infected. Then, the needles turn a purplish-brown color, and they fall off. Eventually, the entire limb dies. We can help control needle cast disease with one to three applications of a fungicide, beginning in the spring.
Do You Have Diseased Trees on Your Property?
Our tree care team is experienced at diagnosing and treating spring leaf diseases. Contact us right away, so we can come over and look at your trees. Spring is one of the most important times to treat and control leaf diseases in the Long Grove, Illinois area. We will help keep your trees healthy, so they can grow and complement your landscape for years to come.
Sources:
https://www.purduelandscapereport.org/article/needlecast-in-colorado-blue-spruce/
https://www.shadywoodtreeexperts.com/blog/needle-blight-diseases-and-pine-trees
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/focus/index.cfm?problem=cedar-hawthorn-rust
https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/apple-scab#cultural-practices-1165362
