A healthy tree is a huge bonus for any property, but like humans, trees can also get sick. It can be helpful to know some of the diseases and symptoms that trees can have so you can be aware of the health of your tree. Today we’re going to look at a couple of tree diseases and some of their symptoms.

When a group of fungi attacks twigs, leaves, fruits and flowers on a tree they can cause a disease called anthracnose. Anthracnose is mostly found in trees in North America. This generally leads to branch dieback, defoliation and even the death of the tree in question.

Crabapple trees are susceptible to a disease called apple scab, where the leaves start darkening and molting. This is mostly an aesthetic condition, however, and generally doesn’t mean your tree is in real harm. It can be dealt with by using fungicide applications.

Cedar rusts are a disease common to crabapple and hawthorn trees. You can recognize it in rust-colored or orange speckles that show up on the leaves of the tree. This disease can result in twig cankers and dieback. Proper pruning paired with fungicide applications will efficiently rid your tree of cedar rusts.

Diplodia is a disease common to pine trees. It starts and the bottom of the tree and works its way up, expanding the pine needles till they die. You can spot diplodia in dead shoots with needles only half elongated and lots of resin. You can also find black fruiting structures on cones and between needles. Prune well and apply fungicides to avoid diplodia.

A fungal disease causing premature defoliation in old trees is called dothistroma needle blight. It’s common in pine trees all over North America, but can’t be found in pine trees in the central Rocky Mountains or the western Great Plains. The main symptom of dothistroma is tan or yellow bands appearing on the tree’s needles in fall.

Palm trees in Texas and Florida are often victims of lethal palm yellowing. You can normally find this disease in date palms, coconut palms, and Canary Island date palms amongst others. This disease of ten results in tree death.

There are many more tree diseases that show up in American trees, but with some of these tips you might be able to get ahead of your tree diseases in time to save them.

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