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

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

Leaf loss, in one area or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most typical 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 best bet for prompt, responsive tree treatment service in Chicago! Educated to spot and diagnose diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe solutions for ailments that affect Wisconsin trees.

Alterations in leaf color are another identifier. Yellow leaves can be reflective of a fertilizer shortage, often with oaks. Yet, yellow is the natural color of leaves on a sunburst locust tree. A Certified Arborist understands the difference, and how to interpret the messages of leaf colors!

Avoiding problems is the most sound 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 Chicago.

What are they watching for? The aforementioned symptoms, of course. Another sign of potential alarm is crevices or cavities in trees, where moisture and insects collect. The goal is to spot ongoing or possible problems early. Avoiding a disease or insect infestation is far easier than curing them once established.

Colorado blue spruces dot many yards. A close inspection, though, might discover signs of Rhizosphaera needle cast, a fungus that attacks this non-native species. Brown needles, or piles of needles beneath a tree, are a symptom. Treatment can block the fungus from decimating and ultimately killing these beautiful 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 Chicago 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 avoid root rot, a condition that affects trees growing in wet soil. Root rot isn’t selective, either – its decay affects trees from a multitude 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 attacks birches. Linden borers mostly target lindens. 

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

Another invasive, the spotted lanternfly, is inching 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.

Preventing 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 take in.

Just as you wouldn’t skip visiting a doctor for years on end, don’t gamble with the health of your trees. Contact Dorshak Tree Specialists for a complimentary checkup. Yes, their “tree doctors” still make house calls to Chicago.