Our area has been hit hard by oak wilt. It seems there’s always something to be battled! In this area where shade trees are so important because of the sun/heat, and where trees grow so slowly because of the lack of water, we would hate to lose even one of our oaks.
There’s oak wilt just a couple of miles from our house and there’s only a slim chance it won’t eventually get to us. We’ve put off trimming and the UPS driver has had to change where they turn around . . twice . . because of low hanging limbs. With winter coming, and the danger of ice on the limbs, we went ahead and cut the ones that were hanging over areas where they could cause damage.
Limbs
We can’t have the limbs scraping on the roof or damaging fences.
Limbs
Not sure if he’ll burn them or haul them to the landfill but neither are going to happen today . . but soon. Having trimmings sitting around is an invitation for the fungus that causes oak wilt. One thing for sure, living out in the country, there’s always something to be done.
La Haynes says
I understand from a couple of perspectives. 1) Big Oak trees and shade are pretty scarce in S. Calif.; quite a treasure for those who have it.
2) Pine beetle infestation is a annual risk for our tree farm (in MS) and we’re always on the lookout for it. Thank God, they are slow-moving. So, if we see symptoms and evidence, we find the perimeter, cut a band out 10′ from the last evidence and fell everything within the circle. Our trees take 25 years to grow to maturity, so any beetle damage can be quite costly to us.
May the fungus die out!
JudyL says
My parents and other family members have timber land in north Louisiana and pine beetles are a concern there too. It’s always a toss up when the timber is getting ready to sell . . do you wait another year or sell it off just in case the pine beetles move in.
I wish the fungus would die out but I’m afraid it’s close enough to us that we’re going to be affected before it dies off or can be eradicated.
Dot says
The California drought has weakened the trees, and caused a terrible pine beetle problem in the Sierra. We’ve had to have 11 tall trees felled on our 1-acre lot this year, and more are dying. Great swaths of forest are brown, and ready to burn.
JudyL says
I’m sure the drought here has contributed to the oak wilt problem too.
Rosalie says
We always spray the cuts with paint to seal them.
Now if you had goats, they would eat all those leaves!!!
JudyL says
Ahhh . . another reason why I should have goats! 🙂