There are many reasons why people choose to plant trees on their property, which include to improve the appearance of the landscape and to provide shade. It's often necessary for homeowners to contact a tree service to trim their trees, care for diseased trees and to remove trees. We aren't affiliated with tree service professionals but we think homeowners should understand the importance of tree specialists and why their services are needed. We researched tree care and talked to professionals in the tree service industry to obtain the information we needed for this blog. As you read these articles, you'll learn when it's necessary to contact a tree service to maintain and care for your trees.
The Importance of Tree Services for Maintenance and Care
Does Your Walnut Tree Have Thousand Cankers Disease?
Lynn Lee
Walnut trees are majestic and beautiful, but they are also prone to a number of serious diseases. One of these diseases is called thousands cankers disease (TCD). Since TCD is so serious (and usually results in a tree needing to be removed), it is important for anyone with a walnut tree to know the basics about the ailment and how to address it. That's exactly the information you will find below.
What are the signs of TCD in a walnut tree?
As the name suggests, the hallmark symptom of TCD is a lot of cankers. (Cankers are basically holes, or ulcers, in the tree's bark.) These cankers start off pretty small, but then they grow over time. They are usually round or oval in shape, but then they end up connecting with one another and merging into larger sores that take on an irregular shape.
The cankers eventually protrude into the inner, vascular tissue of the wood. At this stage, they keep the tree from properly transporting water and nutrients to its leaves, so the leaves start dying off. They'll turn yellow, and then they will fall to the ground prematurely. A tree with TCD may not form any walnuts at all in the year the infection becomes severe, or the walnuts it does form may fall to the ground.
What should you do if you think your walnut tree has TCD
Call a tree removal company without delay. The tree company will send an expert to take a look at the tree, confirm the diagnosis, and then remove the tree if it is, indeed, infected.
The reason it is so important to remove the tree is two-fold. For one, a tree with TCD is likely to lose branches, which may cause damage to your home or landscaping as they fall. An infected tree will also spread the infective fungi to other walnut trees in the area. Your neighbors won't be happy with you if they find that your damaged, infected walnut tree is making all of their trees sick and in need of removal.
You will not typically be able to keep the wood from an infected walnut once the tree has been removed. The wood itself can still harbor the fungi (or the larvae of beetles that spread the fungi from tree to tree), so you really want to get rid of that wood by burning or burying it. A tree removal company can do this for you.
TCD is a problem for many walnut trees, and it is a problem you should not ignore. Call a tree removal company promptly if your tree is showing signs of illness.
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