Spring time in the Willamette valley can bring the perfect environment for disease issues to thrive. Constant stretches with wet weather can create the perfect situation where diseases can thrive. Flowering trees such as flowering and weeping cherries, dogwoods, plums, crabapples, fruit trees and others are very venerable to many types of diseases. Some of the typical issues are brown blossom blight, shot hole fungus, anthracnose, apple scab, black spot and powdery mildew. These all can be treated with a proper disease control program and good cultural practice can help make the plant healthier which in turn makes the plant more tolerant. Proper pruning practices will increase the overall health of a tree. Removing suckers and crossing branches will help increase airflow through a plant, which allow that plant to dry out faster reducing the disease prone environment. Making sure to rake up all infected leaves that have fallen off. If leaves build up underneath the plant (like a photinia) when rainfall or water occurs, that water will fall on the infected leaves and splash back up on the plant, making it hard to control the disease and cause reinfection. Also, a proper fertilization program will help provide extra nutrients to help strengthen the plant. All of these combined help promote a healthier plant and enhance your landscape as a whole.
If you have any of these disease issues currently or have any questions about how to maintain a healthy lawn, trees, and shrubs, contact our Plant Health Care Technician by clicking here or call (503) 782-7356 (Salem) or (503) 782-7356 (Portland).