Help A Tree
Dan Goodman
December 14, 2008
My Own Observation
I love being outdoors. One thing I enjoy doing is caring for the trees and shrubs in my yard.
It used to be easy to care for them. Sunshine. Fertilizing. Watering. Pulling weeds and vines. Replacing the mulch. And, of course, pruning.
However, I noticed, starting last year, that things are not the same in my yard. Things are happening that have not happen before. My trees and shrubs, were for a time, in danger of being destroyed. Has this happen to you?
I have had to adapt to these strange occurrences. Fortunately, for my trees and shrubs, most are alive and some are now surviving. I hope before the beginning of next year they will be back to the way they were before all of this started.
It all began with green mold and algae appearing rather abruptly on my trees, and then the shrubs. Then the bark on some of my trees and shrubs changed colors (generally from a light brown to a dark green/ black). (1) Then lichens (2) formed. After a short period of time, ball mosses (3) appeared on them.
I went to our local government for some help. I was provided with relevant information, including some remedies. The information was helpful. The remedies only slightly helpful.
Things started to get worse. Trees and shrubs that were strong and healthy were becoming weak and sick. Leaves started to fall off. Branches were breaking off with hardly any effort.
After much searching on the internet, and further thinking on my part, I came up with the easiest and fastest way to remove the green mold and algae as well as the lichens. The answer was to use a sturdy fairly large wire brush, for rough bark and a IBM heavy duty stripping pad for smooth bark. GENTLY brushing with the wire brush with the grain of the bark worked the best. Moving back and forth; or, up and down SLOWLY with the stripping pad (and handle) on the smooth bark of the tree did the most. And then rinsing the bark off with regular water. Regarding the ball mosses, I removed them one at a time with my hands.
For the shrubs, I used different sizes of mulch and scraped the bark of the shrub CAREFULLY. Again, rinsing the bark off with regular water.
After making some progress with what I just described above, there was an improvement in the trees and shrubs. But only temporarily. After all that work, the green mold and algae (as well as lichens) reappeared.
I thought maybe that the green mold and algae was being transferred to my trees and shrubs by the air. This was confirmed when I checked my pool water. Green algae, as well as other things.
So after doing the bushing, scrubbing, and scraping again, I started to water my trees and shrubs periodically, to rinse off the green algae before the algae (and mold) had a chance to develop. So far, this is working.
The next problem I had was mite, and other organisms showing up and growing up on my fruit trees. I concluded that this was from the green mold and algae stressing them. I found a solution to this, thankfully. Its called companion planting. The answer, in this case is to plant garlic under your fruit tree.
"Underplanting fruit trees with garlic helps the tree repel pests such as fruit tree bore, aphids and mites. It is also thought that the tree roots absorb sulfur produced by the garlic, making the tree more resistant to fungus, mould and black spot." (4)
Instead of planting garlic (for now) I decided to crush some garlic cloves and plant them near, but not on, the main roots of my fruit trees. The idea is to get the same results, but faster. From what I am seeing, it appears to be working as things have not gotten worse.
I love my trees and shrubs. I want each of them to live a long and healthy life. I know that caring for them helps them do what they do best; provide us with oxygen and with food. (5)
Notes:
(1) After a while one of my trees develop white growths on its branches and its trunk. I discover that they were conks (http://www.treeboss.net/tree_bark.htm , at bottom of page) and were caused by an algae and/ or fungus growing inside of the tree. I had to over time cut branches and more branches off to keep the tree. Crush garlic was applied near to the main roots. The tree is not a fruit tree, however, the garlic seems to be working in killing off the algae or fungus inside. The tree is surviving now, but is not in good shape. Hopefully, with time it will recover completely. (More on garlic later)
(2) See the following websites for information on what is a lichen: a) http://www.earthlife.net/lichens/lichen.html and http://www.earthlife.net/lichens/intro.html , b) http://www.backyardnature.net/lichens.htm .
(3) For information on what a ball moss is: http://www.oakwilt.com/ballmoss/index.html .
(4) Go to: http://www.gardenwiseonline.ca/node/946 .
(5) There are organizations which are centered on trees and shrubs. For trees:
Trees Forever at http://treesforever.org
and for shrubs:
Iowa Association of Naturalists at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN307.pdf .
(c)©2008 Dan Goodman
I love being outdoors. One thing I enjoy doing is caring for the trees and shrubs in my yard.
It used to be easy to care for them. Sunshine. Fertilizing. Watering. Pulling weeds and vines. Replacing the mulch. And, of course, pruning.
However, I noticed, starting last year, that things are not the same in my yard. Things are happening that have not happen before. My trees and shrubs, were for a time, in danger of being destroyed. Has this happen to you?
I have had to adapt to these strange occurrences. Fortunately, for my trees and shrubs, most are alive and some are now surviving. I hope before the beginning of next year they will be back to the way they were before all of this started.
It all began with green mold and algae appearing rather abruptly on my trees, and then the shrubs. Then the bark on some of my trees and shrubs changed colors (generally from a light brown to a dark green/ black). (1) Then lichens (2) formed. After a short period of time, ball mosses (3) appeared on them.
I went to our local government for some help. I was provided with relevant information, including some remedies. The information was helpful. The remedies only slightly helpful.
Things started to get worse. Trees and shrubs that were strong and healthy were becoming weak and sick. Leaves started to fall off. Branches were breaking off with hardly any effort.
After much searching on the internet, and further thinking on my part, I came up with the easiest and fastest way to remove the green mold and algae as well as the lichens. The answer was to use a sturdy fairly large wire brush, for rough bark and a IBM heavy duty stripping pad for smooth bark. GENTLY brushing with the wire brush with the grain of the bark worked the best. Moving back and forth; or, up and down SLOWLY with the stripping pad (and handle) on the smooth bark of the tree did the most. And then rinsing the bark off with regular water. Regarding the ball mosses, I removed them one at a time with my hands.
For the shrubs, I used different sizes of mulch and scraped the bark of the shrub CAREFULLY. Again, rinsing the bark off with regular water.
After making some progress with what I just described above, there was an improvement in the trees and shrubs. But only temporarily. After all that work, the green mold and algae (as well as lichens) reappeared.
I thought maybe that the green mold and algae was being transferred to my trees and shrubs by the air. This was confirmed when I checked my pool water. Green algae, as well as other things.
So after doing the bushing, scrubbing, and scraping again, I started to water my trees and shrubs periodically, to rinse off the green algae before the algae (and mold) had a chance to develop. So far, this is working.
The next problem I had was mite, and other organisms showing up and growing up on my fruit trees. I concluded that this was from the green mold and algae stressing them. I found a solution to this, thankfully. Its called companion planting. The answer, in this case is to plant garlic under your fruit tree.
"Underplanting fruit trees with garlic helps the tree repel pests such as fruit tree bore, aphids and mites. It is also thought that the tree roots absorb sulfur produced by the garlic, making the tree more resistant to fungus, mould and black spot." (4)
Instead of planting garlic (for now) I decided to crush some garlic cloves and plant them near, but not on, the main roots of my fruit trees. The idea is to get the same results, but faster. From what I am seeing, it appears to be working as things have not gotten worse.
I love my trees and shrubs. I want each of them to live a long and healthy life. I know that caring for them helps them do what they do best; provide us with oxygen and with food. (5)
Notes:
(1) After a while one of my trees develop white growths on its branches and its trunk. I discover that they were conks (http://www.treeboss.net/tree_bark.htm , at bottom of page) and were caused by an algae and/ or fungus growing inside of the tree. I had to over time cut branches and more branches off to keep the tree. Crush garlic was applied near to the main roots. The tree is not a fruit tree, however, the garlic seems to be working in killing off the algae or fungus inside. The tree is surviving now, but is not in good shape. Hopefully, with time it will recover completely. (More on garlic later)
(2) See the following websites for information on what is a lichen: a) http://www.earthlife.net/lichens/lichen.html and http://www.earthlife.net/lichens/intro.html , b) http://www.backyardnature.net/lichens.htm .
(3) For information on what a ball moss is: http://www.oakwilt.com/ballmoss/index.html .
(4) Go to: http://www.gardenwiseonline.ca/node/946 .
(5) There are organizations which are centered on trees and shrubs. For trees:
Trees Forever at http://treesforever.org
and for shrubs:
Iowa Association of Naturalists at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN307.pdf .
(c)©2008 Dan Goodman
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