If Your Trees Look Ill, Don’t Wait to Look For a “Tree Doctor” in Lake Ripley!

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

Leaf loss, in one area or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most usual symptom 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 Lake Ripley! Trained to identify and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe solutions for ailments that afflict Wisconsin trees.

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

Avoiding 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 Lake Ripley.

What are they looking 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 identify ongoing or possible problems proactively. Preventing a disease or insect infestation is far simpler than curing them once established.

Colorado blue spruces dot many yards. A close viewing, though, might find evidence 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 block the fungus from devastating and eventually killing these lovely trees.

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

Other tree species in Lake Ripley are vulnerable to fungi diseases, too. Oaks suffer oak wilt. Elms contract Dutch elm disease. Pre-emptive inspection can identify these conditions 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 choosy, 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 Lake Ripley homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across Lake Ripley 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.

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 take in.

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