Early identification and treatment of pests and disease is far more effective than waiting until problems become severe.
Connecticut Insect & Disease FAQs for Trees
A Tree Health Care Program (sometimes referred to as a PHC or a Plant Health Care program) is a comprehensive program that will identify, prevent, manage, and treat any issues with your trees.
It typically includes a wide range of tree care services such as fertilization, pest control, disease control, identifying tree issues, and more.
Trees can get sick, just like we do. The key to effective treatment is to quickly identify the cause (often, it's an insect pest, a tree-infecting disease, or environmental factors) and then administer the appropriate "medicine."
Our Tree Health Care Manager will choose the best option to control or eliminate the pest or disease while ensuring that the treatment has as little impact as possible on other plants or living creatures (such as pollinators and beneficial insects). We'll also recommend ways to prevent the problem from recurring.
For some pests, there are commercially-available treatments that may be helpful.
But many of the most effective treatments can only be applied by professionally licensed arborists or pesticide applicators.
Knowledge of the treatments and how they can impact the rest of your property and environment are important parts of tree health care. It can be easy to apply something incorrectly or to accidentally use something that could be toxic to local pollinators or other wildlife (not to mention nearby plants!).
Many of our treatments are injections, which means that the treatments go directly to the source of the problem without disrupting the local ecosystem. Others are sprays that require a professional, high-powered spray rig to reach all parts of the tree.
Rather than risking your tree's health with the wrong treatment, an ineffective treatment, or a treatment applied at the wrong time or in the wrong way, just give us a call. We'll be happy to set up a professional tree health consultation so you'll know exactly what's wrong and will have a professional treatment plan.
The effectiveness of insect, pest, and disease treatments depends on the tree or shrub, the pest or disease, and a few other factors.
Many issues can only be treated before the pest or disease appears. The Arborists at Rayzor's Edge understand when specific insects, fungi, and bacterial infections are likely to appear and when to take the necessary preventive measures.
Other pests or diseases may need to be treated several times a year, often during different stages of the insect's development or the disease's progression.
Some issues are treated once they appear.
And, of course, the proper timing of treatments is often weather-dependent.
This varied timing is one of the reasons why a good Tree Health Care program is so important - regular monitoring will help identify the right time to apply treatments for the greatest effectiveness.
The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive and destructive pest that kills trees and crops.
The insect itself is a nuisance and is causing issues across the Eastern U.S.
Although the SLF’s preferred tree is the weedy, invasive Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), the insect also attacks valuable tree species, including fruit and nut trees and almost 50% of Connecticut’s forest trees.
Forest tree species attacked by SLF include:
- Red maple (Acer rubrum)
- Sweet birch (Betula lenta)
- Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
- American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
- Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)
- Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)
- American hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
- Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis or B. lutea)
- White oak (Quercus alba)
If your evergreen shrubs, such as arborvitae and juniper, are showing these signs, they may be infected with a pest that's common across Connecticut - bagworms.
Beech Leaf Disease is spreading rapidly throughout Connecticut, putting all of our beech trees at risk. This fatal disease is relatively new to the state and there’s a lot scientists still don’t know about its cause and how it spreads. However, there are things Connecticut residents can do to help control it, starting with the beech trees on their own property.
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Look for these eight common symptoms that mean your tree is suffering from pests, disease, or environmental stress and learn what to do about it.
Why Trust Your Trees' Health to Rayzor's Edge?
Not sure what's wrong with your trees?
Why not book a tree inspection by one of our Arborists? We'll examine your trees and landscape, identify any issues, and let you know what (if anything) we recommend to keep your trees in optimimal health.
