What To Do When A Tree Becomes Diseased

Trees can add a lot of aesthetic charm to garden spaces, and the shade they provide can be very helpful for keeping gardens and homes nice and cool. A healthy tree can live anything from a couple of decades to a few centuries, depending on the species. Unfortunately, a tree’s lifespan can be cut short if it becomes infested with disease. 

When this happens, the tree will transform from functional into something that can be a huge risk to your property and those residing on the premises. Falling tree branches can cause a lot of damage to your property or can even be life-threatening.

If a tree on your property becomes diseased, then it is best to act immediately. Let’s take a look at what to do.

How to Tell if a Tree Is Diseased

It isn’t always easy to see if a tree is diseased. Disease and pests can slowly kill a tree over many years. The best way to find out if your tree is sick is by looking for signs like fungal growth, rot, dead leaves, dying branches, bark issues, or discolouration. 

What to Do If The Tree Becomes Diseased

There are two main things you can do if a large tree on your property becomes diseased. You can either treat the disease and restore the tree back to health or remove the tree.

For either of these methods, it is best to first inspect the tree so you can determine the extent of damage. In trees where the disease might be too difficult to identify or if the infection has spread too far, it might be best to remove the tree.

If you can identify the disease or infestation and have a way to treat the disease, then perhaps your tree could be saved.

Saving the Diseased Tree

If you decide to save your diseased tree, then start by identifying the disease. You will need to find a suitable fungicide or pesticide to treat the issue. It can also be a good idea to prune back the tree and to cut away any branches that might be heavily affected. It is also best to remove any branches that might be extending over your property so they won’t cause damage.

Once you remove the diseased and risky parts of the tree, you can proceed to treat the tree. It might be best to call a certified arborist to treat your tree. 

Removing the Diseased Tree

If the tree is severely damaged or affected by the disease, then it is usually best to cut down the tree and get it removed from your garden. This is especially important if your tree has a contagious disease. Contagious bacterial diseases can spread to some of the other garden plants and trees. Here are some steps for removing your diseased tree. 

Step 1 – Cut Down The Tree

First, you will need to clear away some of the major tree branches. After removing these, you can get to work and cut down the tree trunk. This will leave you with a large tree stump that needs to be cleared away.

Step 2 – Get Stump Grinding

Call your local tree stump grinding company in Geelong. Stump grinders are ideal for dealing with diseased tree trunks because the grinder will chip the entire stump into tiny pieces that can easily be loaded into a skip bin and cleared away from your property.

Step 3 – Treat the Earth

After clearing away the tree stump and wood chips, you should take some time to properly treat the earth that surrounded the stump. Diseases and bacteria could have spread to these surrounding areas and will affect any future plants you want to establish in that area.

Get a good pesticide or fungicide and treat the entire area so any lingering bacteria can be killed.

Book Professional Stump Grinders in Geelong

The quickest and best way to get rid of a diseased tree is by cutting it down and removing the leftover stump with the help of a good stump grinder. At Pete Stump Grinding, we have powerful grinders that are perfect for this task. Call us now to book our grinding services, and we will help you get rid of the diseased tree within just a few hours. 

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