If Your Trees Look Ill, Don’t Wait to Contact a “Tree Doctor” in West Milwaukee!

Trees, like people and animals, get ill. How do you reach 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 typical sign of a problem. Mushroom growth, regularly 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 West Milwaukee! Educated to identify and analyze diseases and insect pests, these tree specialists prescribe remedies for problems that affect Wisconsin trees.

Changes in leaf color are another identifier. Yellow leaves can be reflective of a fertilizer deficiency, 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 interpret 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 West Milwaukee.

What are they hunting 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 potential problems early. Blocking a disease or insect infestation is much simpler than curing them once established.

Colorado blue spruces fill many yards. A close viewing, though, might find proof 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 thwart the fungus from devastating and eventually killing these beautiful trees.

Another possibility – 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 substitutes for Colorado spruces.

Other tree species in West Milwaukee are susceptible to fungi diseases, too. Oaks suffer oak wilt. Elms contract Dutch elm disease. Pre-emptive inspection can identify these circumstances in time to save the trees.

Application of fungicides can avoid root rot, an ailment that affects trees growing in wet soil. Root rot isn’t selective, 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 mostly target lindens. 

The emerald ash borer has been an unwelcome introduction for West Milwaukee homeowners. The Asian invasive has decimated ash trees across West Milwaukee and Wisconsin in recent years.

Another invasive, the spotted lanternfly, is moving 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 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 West Milwaukee.