Real Estate News: Maintaining Good Health for Trees and Shrubs

Maintaining Good Health for Trees and Shrubs

Maintaining Good Health for Trees and Shrubs

Tips & Tricks

Healthy trees and shrubs usually have good coping skills; that is, they have the ability to ward off most threats posed by disease and pests. However, even the toughest trees on the block can use some of the gardener’s help when infestation overwhelms the tree and in severe cases, even professionals might need to be consulted. The following article discusses how to control pests and disease for your landscape’s overall health.

A gardener’s most effective means to combat pests and disease plaguing trees and shrubs is information. Knowing your enemy is ninety percent of the battle in most cases. One of the first decisions a gardener needs to make concerns the means of control. Knowing the organism responsible for your tree or shrub’s plight means knowing when that organism is most vulnerable so you may target it for eradication.

A control mechanism may be one that is manual (or physical). Gardeners may also employ a live or packaged control. Depending on what threat you’re dealing with, you may find either of these options useful. Local nursery centers, and to some extent, even a growing number of online resources can help gardeners identify pests and diseases and advise appropriate control methods.

Manual methods of pest control include a physical removal of the adversary bug or the infected parts of plants. Often a simple blast of water from the garden hose will get rid of pesky aphids. Gardeners should also plan to pick off caterpillar and break up any pests’ nests. If hose water is not enough, consider a non-toxic oil spray. Oil sprays that are specially designed for horticulture are effective measures to control aphids and spider mites as well as many other tree and shrub pests.

Oil spray accompanied by baking soda is also an effective means for getting rid of powdery mildew on plants such as roses. However, take care that the solution is not too strong or the plant itself could become damaged—and dealing with the mildew is stressful enough for a pretty rose.

In some cases, burning and getting rid of a layer of top soil is the answer. This, too, is a physical method, but one that may be necessary to keep disease from spreading to other specimens in the landscape. For instance, an orchard with the same type of trees is vulnerable and disease can spread from one tree to the next if not placed in check.

A live control involves introducing a garden-friendly insect or even a particular type of bird to prey upon the pests. For instance, introducing a batch of lacewing larvae will greatly diminish pesky aphid populations. You can use good bugs to get rid of the bad bugs. Furthermore, by attracting birds to your yard with bird feeders and birdbaths, you will also gain the upper hand against pests as birds like to feast on these garden trespassers.

Packaged methods of pest and disease control include both traditional poisons and non-toxic alternatives. The main idea is to find a product that will target and kill the offender, but not bother or harm any other part of the environment. Some may fit this bill, but may call for frequent reapplications like insecticidal soaps—very good against aphids and white-flies, but it needs to be administered frequently.

Keep in mind that seedlings and saplings are the most vulnerable trees and shrubs on the landscape. Too maintain both health and survival, gardeners must be diligent in their routine maintenance and inspections for signs of pests and diseases. Although nature can usually maintain its overall health on its own, sometimes a little help on the part of the gardener will make the difference for a particular shrub or tree in your own garden.