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

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

Leaf loss, in one section or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most common sign of a problem. Mushroom growth, usually 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 choice for prompt, responsive tree treatment service in Edgewood! Educated to spot and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe treatments for ailments that afflict Wisconsin trees.

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

Preventing problems is the most practical 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 Edgewood.

What are they searching 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 ongoing or potential problems proactively. Preventing a disease or insect infestation is much easier than curing them once established.

Colorado blue spruces dot many yards. A close inspection, though, might discover evidence 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 thwart the fungus from decimating and ultimately killing these lovely trees.

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

Other tree species in Edgewood are vulnerable to fungi diseases, too. Oaks suffer oak wilt. Elms contract Dutch elm disease. Proactive inspection can identify these conditions 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 wide range of species.

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

The emerald ash borer has been a rude introduction for Edgewood homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across Edgewood 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.

Preventing insect damage, 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 seeing a doctor for years on end, don’t gamble with the well-being of your trees. Contact Dorshak Tree Specialists for a complimentary checkup. Yes, their “tree doctors” still make house calls to Edgewood.