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

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

Leaf loss, in one area or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most common indicator 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 choice for prompt, responsive tree treatment service in Mapleton! Trained to detect and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe solutions for problems that affect Wisconsin trees.

Alterations in leaf color are another symptom. Yellow leaves can be evidence of a fertilizer deficiency, often with oaks. However, yellow is the normal 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 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 Mapleton.

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

Colorado blue spruces occupy many yards. A close viewing, 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 giveaway. Treatment can halt the fungus from devastating and eventually killing these beautiful trees.

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

Other tree species in Mapleton are vulnerable 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 afflicts trees growing in wet soil. Root rot isn’t selective, either – its decay affects trees from a multitude of species.

Insect pests pose serious dangers 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 an unwelcome introduction for Mapleton homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across Mapleton 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 damage, once again, is about proactivity. Repellents are applied in two ways: injecting directly into trees, or drenching soil beneath for roots to absorb.

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 Mapleton.