If Your Trees Look Unhealthy, Don’t Wait to Look For a “Tree Doctor” in Pleasant Prairie!

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

Leaf loss, in one area or across a tree’s entire crown, is the most usual 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 top choice for prompt, responsive tree treatment service in Pleasant Prairie! Educated to spot and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe treatments for ailments that affect Wisconsin trees.

Changes in leaf color are another identifier. Yellow leaves can be reflective of a fertilizer deficiency, often with oaks. Yet, yellow is the normal 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 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 Pleasant Prairie.

What are they searching 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 existing or possible problems early. Avoiding a disease or insect infestation is much 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 stop 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 far more resistance to insects and disease. Concolor firs and Norway spruces are substitutes for Colorado spruces.

Other tree species in Pleasant Prairie 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, an ailment that afflicts trees growing in wet soil. Root rot isn’t picky, 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 lethal bronze birch borer goes after birches. Linden borers mainly target lindens. 

The emerald ash borer has been an unwelcome initiation for Pleasant Prairie homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across Pleasant Prairie 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 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 miss visiting a doctor for years on end, don’t risk the well-being of your trees. Contact Dorshak Tree Specialists for a complimentary checkup. Yes, their “tree doctors” still make house calls to Pleasant Prairie.