When Disease Comes Calling: How Healthy Trees Get Sick
Arborists have long attempted to portray how trees live as a reflection of how humans live. Trees, like humans, need sustenance, care and a healthy diet or else they can become sick from an onslaught of potentially life threatening bacterial and viral diseases that can be airborne or vectored (wind, birds,insects. insects and tools). People should know their trees and what type of diseases can infect them. Let me share a not too uncommon story about how a once healthy tree comes down with a severe case of a bacterial infection. Good Intentions Over the spring weekend, Mac noticed that his Bradford pear had branches that were hanging close to his roof line, causing concern for both him and his insurance company. He decided that when his landscaping company came Monday to mow the lawn and hedge his shrubs, he’d ask them to trim the pear back from the roof line. Monday arrived and the landscapers showed up, unloading their equipment for the weekly service. Mac approached Bobby, the foreman, with the request and received a “no problem” in response. In a short time an extension ladder, rusty power hedgers, worn pole pruner and a pair of dull loppers appeared. After a few cuts the roof was cleared. Satisfied, Mac gave the crew an extra $40.00 for the work. Problem solved, thought Mac. Or was it .. Spring turned into summer, summer into fall. With Halloween approaching, Mac started planning out his annual scary outdoors display. Included was a feature where a ghost flys down from his chimney to the same pear tree trimmed by his landscapers in spring. With a cable in hand, Mac climbed his A-frame ladder to attach it to the tree when he noticed what appeared to be burned branch segments on the pruned side of the tree. The closer he looked, the more they looked like they had been scorched with a blow torch. Shrugging his shoulders, Mac didn’t give it a second thought. After he attached the cable and climbed off the ladder, he looked at the rest of the tree but didn’t see any other foliage with similar appearance anywhere else. But as he glanced over to the pyrcantha hedge that wrapped around the front of his house, he also noticed a similar burnt appearance on the ends of branches. Now he was perplexed. Transmission of a Disease So what happened? When Mac’s landscapers came to his house that spring day, they had just trimmed pyracantha and crab apple at another property that were infected with a bacterium called Fireblight. The bacteria remained onto their pruning tools. When those same tools touched Mac’s tree and shrubs, they became infected. Stories like this happen every single day. Signs like tree trunks turning black are often indicative of fungal infections or diseases like Fireblight, which may affect the entire tree if not treated promptly. How to Reduce Risks So how can we avoid cases like this? First, we need to pay attention to the species of trees and shrubs we have, along with knowing what diseases they can contract. In today’s age of the Internet, looking up that info is relatively easy. Second, if you hire someone to maintain your trees and shrubs, make sure they know diseases and enter your property with sterilized tools. You’d be aghast if you knew how many so called ‘professionals’ don’t know the first thing about diseases. We understand it’s impossible to protect your property from diseases that are vectored in by the wind, birds or insects. However, if you or your professional do the following things you can reduce the risk of infecting your trees and shrubs*: You’d no sooner let a medical professional treat your or your family with an unsterilized tool – why treat your trees and property any different? * source: Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, “Sterilized Pruning Tools: Nuisance or Necessity?”
COVID-19 Update
A Message to our Customers We want to assure you that we remain open and ready to serve because our company is considered an essential service provider. As such, we will continue to provide all our customers at home or work the highest level of tree care service in your community. All of our outside tree workers and estimators have been instructed to closely follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for protecting themselves and others. These recommendations include avoiding exposure to others (Safe Social Distancing), wearing gloves or frequent and thorough hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and cleaners. We wish you the best of health and look forward to providing you the best tree trimming and removal service during this difficult time.
Pruning Your Fruit Trees
How, When, Why to Prune Fruit Trees Many people love the idea of having fresh fruit growing in their backyard orchard. For the experienced, maintaining their labor of love is easy. For the inexperienced, they soon realize it’s something more like love to labor. It’s like raising a child – there are years of training, shaping them for their development, all while warding off pests and diseases that will shorten their lifespan. This work hopefully leads to something that bears good fruit. Well, maybe raising a child doesn’t require pruning off limbs, thinning out the insides and heading from time to time (although sometimes we’re tempted…….). But your trees do. So, let’s talk about the basics. Winter is usually the preferred time to trim, as you are priming the tree for spring growth. You can trim during the growth season but remember that could possibly reduce fruit development along with opening up the tree to outside pests and diseases. Step One: Cleaning up the tree Step Two: Thinning out the interior Step Three: Heading back the crown Think you’re done? Not quite. Make sure you dispose of all the cuttings to ensure that any diseases that they might contain do not linger around the property. And speaking of diseases – treat your tools in a solution of isopropyl alcohol before moving onto another tree. And consider using dormant oil. It is a non-toxic spray, applied via a pump sprayer that helps control insects such as scale and mite that can damage the tree. Generally, it is applied in late winter/early spring, but follow the MSDS label for application information. Not sure if you want to tackle the job? Call one of our certified arborists if you live in our service area. They will know the ins and outs of trimming your trees, whether they fruit or not. They are trained in tree pruning to ANSI standards. Once you master this, you’ll not look at the trees as next year’s firewood but as this year’s bounty. Remember the rule when picking – two for the bucket, one for the mouth. Bon appetite!
Tip Top Arborists honored with TCIA accreditation
In June 2021, Tip Top Arborists, Inc started the process of becoming an accredited tree care company under the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Tree Care Company Accreditation program. While Tip Top Arborists, Inc has been a member of the TCIA since January 1995, we felt that it was time to work for the highest honor in the tree care industry. That honor was achieved January 2022. What is TCIA accreditation, and what does it mean to our customers? It means that Tip Top Arborists, Inc adheres to the highest industry standards for quality and safety, is dedicated to ethics and quality in business practices, maintains a fleet of OSHA/CHP inspected vehicles and has a trained, professional staff from the office to the field. The extensive review looked at all aspects of the company operation. It looked at aspects, not limited to: Company business plan Accounting Ethics Insurance Safety Policy Training Quality Control Safety Regulatory Professional Image As a measure of protection to homeowners, businesses undergo renewal check-ups annually. The annual renewal ensures that the company continues to employ trained professionals, is still properly insured and has a good safety and consumer satisfaction rating. Accredited tree care companies must also re-apply every three years so that their practices can be reviewed and the continuation of best business practices can be verified.