 | Brad Lechner
owner and operator of Lechner’s Landscape & Lawn Service, LLC, has been in the lawn maintenance & landscaping industry since 1984. He is a certified Kansas Nursery Dealer & Certified Lawn Pest Control Applicator. Brad also maintains memberships in PLCAMA (Professional Lawn Care Association of Mid-America), Project Living Green, The Wichita Lawn, Flower and Garden Show, and The Better Business Bureau. Lechner's Landscape & Lawn Service does landscaping, lawn maintenance, lawn fertilization programs, tree & shrub insect and disease programs, tree & shrub pruning, seeding and sodding, and positive corrective drainage. You may contact Brad by e-mailing him at: lechnerslawn@aol.com, or by phone at (316) 729-2600. |
Lawn, Garden & Landscaping
2004-04-01 08:49:00
Tree & shrub diseases
: What type of tree and shrub diseases should we be most concerned with this time of year?
ANSWER: There are many things that can happen to trees and shrubs. Last issue we talked about insects. This issue we will talk about the most common disease problems to look for.Scale - Scale insects have a shell-like, waxy covering on their bodies. Scale insects feed by sucking sap from trees and shrubs and are capable of killing entire plants or parts of the plant. Scale insect feeding can also reduce the plant's vigor, making it more susceptible to injury caused by drought, severe winters, and attacks by other insects and diseases. Plants are often covered by a sooty mold. The sooty mold gives the plant a blackish appearance. Most species of trees and shrubs are subject to scale insects.Fireblight - Certain varieties of apple, flowering crab, pear, pyracantha, cherry and quince are highly susceptible to fireblight. Hawthorns, cotoneaster and spirea are affected less seriously. Signs of the fireblight are blossoms and leaves that suddenly wilt, turn dark brown, shrivel and die, but remain attached. The bacteria overwinters in canker on the plants. They are spread by wind-blowing rain, insects and pruning tools.Powder Mildew - Common hosts are roses, crabapple and lilac. Powder mildew may produce a white powdery coating on the leaves, buds or stems of highly susceptible plants. New growth is stunted and curled on roses. The leaves may dry and drop. The flower buds are often deformed and may fail to open properly.Leaf Spot - Fungal leaf spot occurs on most kinds of ornamental plants. They usually appear first on the lower leaves. They may begin as dark brown, pinhead-sized spots, which sometimes have a yellow halo. Spots may cover an entire leaf. As the spots become more abundant, leaves may yellow, die and drop. Leaf spot is most common in the early spring and fall. Wet conditions usually are necessary for infection. Healthy plants become infected when the fungi spores are slashed onto the infected leaves on the ground, blown to them by wind, or carried by garden tools.Scab - Apples, crabapple and pyracanthat are susceptible to the scab fungus. Symptoms include spots on leaves and fruit and premature defoliation. Scab first appears as olive-green spots on the underside of new leaves. These spots become brown and velvety, then turn yellow and drop prematurely. Fruit may become infected at any time with circular, olive-green spots that later become brown or black. The fungi overwinters in infected leaves and produces spores in the spring.These are the most common diseases that occur in our region. Again, please remember, these are not the only ones. Identification of the disease and what to do can be very difficult unless you have been trained. Like insects, the earlier a disease is diagnosed and treatment begins the better... before major damage occurs. You have a big investment in your landscape, not to mention how long it would take for trees and shrubs to grow again. Unless you are thoroughly trained in looking at it all, it is best to consult a certified chemical applicator to monitor it on a regular basis.
