Paper birch trees get the name from the distinct white bark that can peel off in sheets to reveal a salmon-toned inner bark underneath. While the bark is the main attraction with a paper birch tree, the glossy green leaves that turn yellow in the fall are also a highlight. A paper birch tree can make a great addition to any yard.
Keep that birch looking beautiful and distinct by monitoring for signs of tree disease. Call a tree service when you spot a problem to increase the chances of your birch's continued health and recovery.
Birch Canker
Canker tree diseases have one easy-to-spot symptom: oval, sore-like wounds on the bark. The cankers will have a darker center with reddened tree tissue around the exterior of the wound. The wounds might eventually start to seep smelly sap. Cankers will soon be joined by general tree dieback that includes leaf wilting and dropping prematurely.
Birch canker tends to impact already wounded trees the hardest. The wounds or breakages allow the disease to spread more rapidly through the tree. One of the key ways to prevent the disease from worsening is to call in a tree trimming service to carefully prune away any affected limbs to avoid any accidental pruning damage.
Leaf Scorch
Leaf scorch is a bacterial tree disease that causes the edges of the leaves to take on a burnt appearance. The leaves will eventually wilt and drop from the tree as the disease moves through the tree and worsens.
Leaf scorch might not seem like a severe tree disease but it can in fact kill your birch tree. Call in a tree care service to trim away the affected leave and to apply chemical controls that can slow the disease's progression though not ultimately save the tree.
Heart Rot
Heart rot is a fungal tree disease that enters through weakened and wounded areas of the trees and then destroys the vital heartwood. The infected heartwood will start to become softer and the tree will suffer increasing amounts of weakness-related damage such as branches falling off.
If the tree is kept in otherwise good health, the heartwood damage will be minimal. Chemical controls have no impact on heart rot, so prevention and maintenance are the only treatment options. Make sure a tree care service does all of the pruning and any other sort of maintenance that could potentially injure the tree, which would allow the heart rot to worsen. Contact a company like United Tree Service for more information.
