If Your Trees Look Sick, Don’t Wait to Call a “Tree Doctor” in Oakland!

Trees, like people and animals, get sick. How do you reach a “tree doctor” if your trees show signs of poor health?

Leaf loss, in one section or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most usual sign of a problem. Mushroom growth, typically from a trunk or base, is another. A spate of dead limbs can be a symptom.

An ISA-Certified Arborist from Dorshak Tree Specialists is your top bet for prompt, responsive tree treatment service in Oakland! Educated to recognize and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe treatments for problems that afflict Wisconsin trees.

Alterations in leaf color are another symptom. Yellow leaves can be reflective of a fertilizer deficit, often with oaks. However, yellow is the natural color of leaves on a sunburst locust tree. A Certified Arborist knows the difference, and how to translate the messages of leaf colors!

Preventing problems is the most effective approach to tree health. It’s advisable to have your trees inspected every three to five years by a Certified Arborist. Dorshak Tree Service, with seven Certified Arborists on staff, offers this service for free for tree owners in and around Oakland.

What are they looking for? The aforementioned symptoms, of course. Another area of note is crevices or cavities in trees, where moisture and insects collect. The goal is to identify existing or possible problems proactively. Avoiding a disease or insect infestation is much simpler than curing them once established.

Colorado blue spruces fill many yards. A close look, though, might find signs of Rhizosphaera needle cast, a fungus that attacks this non-native species. Brown needles, or collected needles beneath a tree, are a symptom. Treatment can halt the fungus from decimating and ultimately killing these stunning trees.

Another option – again, long before reaching this point – is planting trees with similar appearance, yet much more resistance to insects and disease. Concolor firs and Norway spruces are substitutes for Colorado spruces.

Other tree species in Oakland are susceptible to fungi diseases, too. Oaks suffer oak wilt. Elms contract Dutch elm disease. Pre-emptive inspection can identify these realities in time to save the trees.

Application of fungicides can block root rot, an ailment that afflicts trees growing in wet soil. Root rot isn’t selective, either – its decay affects trees from a wide range of species.

Insect pests pose serious threats to residential trees. Insects are usually host specific, meaning they target one species. The deadly bronze birch borer goes after birches. Linden borers mostly target lindens. 

The emerald ash borer has been an unwelcome initiation for Oakland homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across Oakland and Wisconsin in recent years.

Another invasive, the spotted lanternfly, is heading west after its discovery in Pennsylvania in 2014. The China native feeds on more than 70 tree species, including maples, oaks, lindens, hickory and black walnut.

Avoiding insect harm, once again, is often a matter of proactivity. Repellents are applied in two ways: injecting directly into trees, or drenching soil beneath for roots to absorb.

Just as you wouldn’t miss seeing a doctor for years on end, don’t risk the well-being of your trees. Contact Dorshak Tree Specialists for a complimentary checkup. Yes, their “tree doctors” still make house calls to Oakland.