While it’s pretty obvious when a damaging storm rolls through, Northern Arizona trees are also vulnerable to silent threats. Fall threats to Arizona trees include pests, stress, and poor root health. Here’s what to look for, and what our tree care experts recommend to safeguard your trees.
Common Fall tree pests
Our area is home to lots of tree pests. Here are some of the most common, and how their activity may impact your trees.
- Wood-Boring insects: Pests like Mediterranean pine engravers and bark beetles bore into trees’ bark. This can disrupt nutrient flow and may become severe enough to kill the tree.
- Sap-Sucking insects: Aphids and scale insects feed on tree sap, weakening trees and transmitting any diseases they might be carrying. [Not sure if your tree has been affected? Our tree care experts can help you identify tree diseases and treat them when possible.] Defoliating Pests: Defoliators like bagworms and fall webworms can damage and defoliate trees (remove leaves). Defoliation reduces trees’ ability to photosynthesize.
While those pests are attracted to healthy trees, trees that are already decaying also pose pest control risks. Carpenter ants and termites target already weakened or decaying trees. Their nests not only further infect and destabilize that tree, but the disease from the affected tree could also spread to nearby trees and plants.
Climate and Environmental Stressors
Our desert climate places stress on trees, especially those not well-adapted to it. If heat caused premature leaf drop for any trees in your yard, it’s likely having trouble conserving resources from soil, mulch, and fall fertilizing treatments. That’s probably not a surprise. But summer heat isn’t the only thing that can deteriorate tree health by fall.
Wind-throw from the summer monsoon season may have uprooted trees, particularly slender conifers like pines. If your lawn and landscape have poor drainage, the resulting soil depletion can stress trees and make them more susceptible to disease and failure. Texas root rot is a particularly serious desert tree disease common in trees planted in areas with poorly-draining, heavy clay soil. If the soil experienced drought and wasn’t properly irrigated in summer, your trees could have signs of sooty canker disease by fall.
We Can Help Improve Fall Tree Health
Here’s how our professional tree maintenance services can help protect your trees this fall (and all year):
- Proper Watering: We know the proper watering schedules to minimize drought stress and can ensure your irrigation system is set up accordingly if needed.
- Correct Pruning: We know how to identify and remove dead or diseased branches safely (without under- or over-pruning). Professional pruning improves tree health and reduces the risk of damage and disease.
- Tree Fertilization: We can help identify and address soil issues and complete timely fertilization so your trees stay resilient.
- Tree Pest and Disease Monitoring: We know the early signs of tree disease and pest infestation, like discolored leaves, insect tunnels, or falling bark. And we can make recommendations to protect your yard and surrounding trees as part of tree disease remediation.
We love Northern Arizona’s trees as much as you do. Contact Zebrascapes to book professional tree care services that will keep your trees tall and strong this fall and beyond.