Welcome to my blog. My name is Sarah, and right now, I can see my favourite tree from my window. A few years ago, it was ailing, but I learned everything I could about tree health and nurtured her back to abundance. In this blog, I plan to write all about tree care, from the basics you can do on your own to knowing when to call a professional. My love of trees grew out of my love for gardening and landscaping, and I may write about those topics as well. I hope that you like my blog and that it inspires you. Thanks for reading!
Learn to Embrace Tree Service: A Tree Blog
Cypress Canker - How To Save Your Trees
Diana Jones
A row of cypress trees in your garden can be both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Fast-growing specimens, such as Leylandii, are very useful for providing screening and hedging, and other species can add evergreen colour and elegant form to a winter landscape. Although cypress trees are generally hardy and disease-resistant, they can be susceptible to a disease called cypress canker.
So what is cypress canker and how can your tree services company help to tackle it?
What is cypress canker?
If your trees rapidly begin to turn yellow and brown, this could be a sign of cypress canker. This rapid-acting and easily spread disease is caused by one of several species of fungus that finds its way into trees via damage to the bark from careless trimming with garden tools or where branches have been brought down by the wind.
The fungus compromises the tree's sap-conducting abilities, preventing the tree from moving nutrients to its extremities and eventually killing the tree above the entry point or wound. Canker-causing fungus is carried by birds, in rain droplets or on the wind and can also be transferred from tree to tree on dirty pruning tools and through irrigation systems.
Preventing and treating cypress canker
Once canker has taken hold of your trees, the best thing to do is to ask your local tree service contractor for help. They will treat the trees en masse with an effective fungicide via a spray. Very badly affected trees can also be injected with a suitable treatment and the soil around them dosed too.
All affected branches will require pruning back to prevent the canker from spreading. In the case of very severely damaged and infected trees, removal is the only option. Cypress canker is very easily spread so it is very important that any loppings or prunings from infected trees are burned well away from healthy trees and from your neighbours' land.
Once your trees have been treated, you'll need to keep them well-fertilised, watered and mulched. You will also need to arrange for regular follow-up visits from your tree service contractor.
Regular tree lopping is also important as it helps to remove crossing branches that could cause wounds where canker spores could enter. If you decide to do the job yourself, make sure that all your tools are clean by rinsing them in a mild solution of household bleach and water before you start.
If you notice your cypress trees turning brown or yellow, they may be infected with cypress canker. Contact your local tree services contractor who will be able to give you more advice and tackle the problem for you.
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