Call A Tree Service If Your Tree Has Cankers
Posted on: 15 August 2023
If you look at your tree, do you see small or large pits on some of its branches? You may even see some pits on the trunk or major limbs. Sometimes, these pits ooze black or brown gunk, and other times, they may appear dark and crusty. Regardless of exactly how they look, the wounds you are looking at are likely to be cankers. They're a sign of disease in trees, and they are also a sign that you need to call a tree service. Here are some questions you may have about that.
What Are Cankers, Really?
Cankers are areas where the tree's bark has been worn or eaten away. The underlying tissue is often also damaged. They are caused by pathogenic fungi, which infect trees. There are some specific fungal diseases that cause cankers, such as thousand cankers disease and black canker. But other pathogenic fungi can cause cankers, too.
Why Are Cankers a Problem?
Cankers are a problem for two key reasons. First, the tree will struggle to circulate fluid through the tissues around the canker, which may cause more tissue around the canker to die. Second, the presence of cankers means the fungal disease is likely quite advanced and may be harder to treat. A tree with cankers has been sick for a while, in other words.
What Will a Tree Service Do for a Tree With Cankers?
Typically, a tree care service will remove the branches that are most affected by the cankers. They will be careful to sanitize their equipment after every cut. This approach helps prevent the fungal disease from spreading to the other branches or limbs of the tree. Then, the tree care service may give your tree an injection of fungicides, which will help it fight the disease that caused the cankers in the first place.
Do Trees With Cankers Ever Need to Be Removed?
Yes, sometimes canker diseases get so bad that the best solution is to have the tree removed. If major limbs of your tree are dead or covered in cankers, this may be your best approach. A tree care service may also recommend removing a tree for the good of the other trees on your property. Removing a badly infected tree can help prevent the disease from spreading to other, nearby trees.
Cankers are not a good thing when they appear on a tree, but this is a problem a professional can handle. Contact a tree service near you to learn more.
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