Tree Help

[PK3]

It seems as though the top of my tree is losing its leaves to some type of buds...see attached pics. Has anyone had this problem before? If so, what is the cause/cure.

Thanks

[Powerstroke]

What you are seeing is called ash flowering gall. It is caused by a mite getting into the flowers of the tree in the spring and the bud calouses around it creating the unsightly galls you see.

Other than being ugly it doesn't actually cause any direct harm to the tree. The indirect harm caused would be with the added weight. Ash trees are notoriously brttle trees as it is and frequently break branches in high winds or heavy rains. Adding the amount of weight that the galls creates only makes the branch breaking possibilty higher.

Once the tree has it you cannot get rid of it. Not yet anyway. The tree company I used to work for is a national leader in Plant Health Care and our office participated in several different trials to get rid of the galls with no luck. We used everything from natural to organic to the strongest chemicals we could apply legally and couldn't do anything about it.

You can treat trees to prevent mites from taking hold in the tree and creating the condition. Thats about the only thing. We had several clients where only 1/3-1/2 of their tree got the galls, the rest stayed normal because of the treatments.

Oh yeah and you aren't losing your leaves because of the galls. Its more likely the result of Anthracnose. Its a fungal disorder and this was one of the worst years I've ever seen for fungal disorders because of our cool wet spring followed by a dry scorching summer.Anthracnose can also be prevented with spring treatments of the proper fungicide and proper timing.

[Powerstroke]

PS. I hope you don't mind, but think about having that baby pruned. Its pretty thick and that only makes everything worse for ash trees. Shouldn't cost more than $200 for one tree or maybe a few beers to a qualified individual......

[Bobb-o]

Ash are garbage trees, just cut it down now! haha. Powerstroke is right on the money with his diagnosis. We had a huge problem with Flower gall in St. Paul this summer. Had literally hundreds of calls aboot people wanting us to come out and look at their "dying" ash trees.

[Powerstroke]

Although I don't prefer ash trees personally, I don't think they are garbage. They are a decent tree if maintained properly. Like I said before, if the tree is trimmed it will do much better. It will look better, the limbs will be lighter avoiding broken branches and air will move through the tree easier which can help with the foliage drying out not allowing fungus to develop in the canopy.