5 Diagnostic Areas Of A Tree
Acting quickly is the key to saving a tree is you suspect something is affecting its health. A tree diagnosis service will examine and test the tree, where necessary, to find the cause of any health decline. There are five main things they check to determine what is compromising a tree's good health.
1. Foliage
Foliar diseases either start in the foliage or only affect the foliage. The most treatable ones tend to be bacterial in nature, but some fungal diseases also only infect leaves and don't do major damage to the rest of the tree. Foliage may also show symptoms due to a viral infection of the entire tree. Your arborist will look for symptoms like leaf death and leaf loss, as well as spotting, discoloration, and mutated growth.
2. Branches
Branch die back is common to some diseases, such as blights and verticilium wilt. The branches tips will die back first, then the issue will progress until the entire branch is dead. Some disease only kill small twigs while others will take out large branches. Branches may also develop sap-weeping wounds, called cankers, if they are under attack by a disease pathogen.
3. Bark
Insects, which can be vectors of certain diseases, may chew bore holes through the bark. The presence of these holes can help your arborist narrow down to what is affecting your tree's health. Loose or peeling bark also accompanies some diseases. Fungal bodies, like mushrooms, may sprout from damaged bark areas if a fungal disease has invades the tree. Weeping cankers on the trunk can also indicate disease.
4. Roots
Fungal diseases can target roots, causing them to die and begin to decompose, or rot. You may notice that the tree is no longer well anchored so that it now sways dangerously in the wind due to lack of root anchoring. Fungal bodies growing up from the root system or around the base of the tree can also indicate rot. An arborist may dig a bit around the roots in order to visually inspect them for damage and rot.
5. Soil
Although not part of the tree, the soil surrounding the tree can provide a lot of diagnostic cues. Poor soil nutrition may narrow down the problem to a nutrient deficiency, for example. Soil can also contain shed fungal spores, or viral and bacterial matter. Testing the soil can then provide the diagnosis necessary to begin treatment for the tree.
Contact an arborist service to learn more about the tree diagnosis solutions that they offer, especially if you notice anything off about the parts of the tree and its environment that are listed above.