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Beech Leaf Disease: The Spread Across New England · Talking Trees with Davey Tree

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Deby Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Doug Oester.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm joined again this week by Dan Hagar.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: He is a district manager of the Concord Massachusetts office of Hartley Greymont, a Davy company.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: And today we're talking about something I know barely anything about, which is beech leaf disease.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Hi Dan, welcome back.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Doug.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh great to talk to you again.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when does beech leaf disease come into your world?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh a long time ago, recently.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: We started seeing it about two to three years ago, actually, probably more like four years ago now, if I think about it.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and right now it's it's reaping havoc on our beech trees.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're in full-fledged outbreak.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me what it does and what it looks like.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, what it really does is it destroys the leaves or makes the leaves so they can't properly um store create energy for the tree.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the first signs that we're gonna see is some dark bands between the leaf veins.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you see those, then you're in trouble.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if the tree can't properly photosynthesize and store up energy, it's not gonna have enough energy to continue to leaf out and grow and do the good things trees do.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is this a disease that spreads?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, um, it's actually caused by a uh uh a little little worm called a nematode.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and the uh current theories on how it's spreading is is these nematodes are blowing through the wind, um, can travel on birds, it's just a microscopic thing.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um is that something that came from another place, or do we know where it came from?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Where where is its origin?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, so this this disease came from uh the Asia, Asia area, and um uh the um European beech trees seem to be more resistant as they've been potentially in contact with this uh uh disease in the past.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Our American beech trees are the ones that are really in rough shape right now.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: What's the prognosis for a tree that gets this if it's not treated?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh slim, very slim.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's a quick acting thing after a couple of years of not being able to store up the proper energy, they they decline fairly rapidly.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a way to treat a tree?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yes, there are a couple of treatments in our our quiver.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's no cure, so these are ongoing things.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, we got basically three three approaches.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess we can we can go into the uh the least preferred, which is a fungicide called broad form.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's not the nicest of fungicides to use, so we've kind of reserved this for special trees, uh smaller trees, because we have to get complete coverage of the tree.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have to do this a couple of uh two two to three times through the growing season uh to get really good coverage.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um it does do a good job of killing the nematodes, um, but like I said, it's not not the preferred treatment.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: The preferred treatment I would say is actually a trunk injection.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we drill into the tree and we pump it full of a different fungicide.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this lasts actually for two years, uh, so it goes straight into the stem of the tree.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we basically pump it flow full of full of fluids.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the weather plays an important role in the tree's ability to take this product up.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um so there can be a little nuance to to getting it into the tree.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it it's we we started doing this, and we're so we're we're in our second year of doing it, and we're seeing some really, really good results.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: The leaves might um are full full leaves, um, very minor banding, um, so great results.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Discuss the weather.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: How what how what does that have to do with it?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the way the the treatment works is the um it basically has to be pulled up into the canopy of the tree, which um has to be um it works through the tree's ability to I don't want to get too technical, I guess.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um when when trees are properly photosynthesizing, they're pulling up water from the ground on uh and and with that pull um the fluid of the fungicide goes up into the canopy.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So a good sunny day with a light breeze is perfect.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, I get it.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Did you say there was a third treatment?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then the third uh third treatment is we're using a product called PP30.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's uh fertilizer that basically soups up cell walls, and um we do it twice a year in the spring and in the fall.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's uh uh a lot of people can compare it to like a vitamin pack.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um kind of kind of boosts the tree's natural immunity to to not just nematodes and and beach leaf disease, but for for a lot of things and um makes it harder for those little little worms to to interact with the cells.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: When you talk about the nematode, is it something that can be seen or is or is it microscopic?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: What size is that nematode?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Microscopic, you can't see this with the naked eye at all.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: And have you had a lot of uh fatalities with beech trees due to this?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're definitely seeing seeing decline in the in the in the trees.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know the the biggest impact we've seen in this forested areas where it doesn't make sense.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: We can't treat every tree in a forest, and you you can walk through a forest, you just see trees with gnarled leaves slowly declining.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about uh working with clients and making this decision should it treat or should I not treat?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you don't treat, the tree's not gonna make it, and if you do treat, you're gonna have to treat forever, right?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So there has to be a conversation there as far as if they love the tree, uh, if the tree has important meaning, or if it's a small tree, and you just say, listen, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna do that.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Or if it's it's too big of a tree, it's like I can't afford to do that.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of comes down to you know the the clients or the the the owner of the trees, the uh value of the tree.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: If if they value that tree, if it is fundamental value, or you know, if the legacy tree, some of some of the beach trees we're looking at are two, three hundred years old, and there's certainly a uh uh a big motivation to keep them going.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um for for smaller trees, that may be just a kind of an ornamental thing, then the decision uh or the conversation goes a different way.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, but that does not sound fun, Dan.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: That that sounds, you know, when these things come about, whether it's you know, chestnut blight, emerald ash borer, whatever it is, uh for a plant lover, a tree professional, this is uh this is awful.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: It absolutely is.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, thinking about our our uh our responsibility as stewards of the environment, you know.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody probably introduced this at some point, and now we've gotta do what we can to um keep keep the uh at least the legacy trees going.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um in general, do you think people know about what's going on, or are we seeing beach trees all over the neighborhoods and such just as usual, actually calling the arborist too late?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you're never called to to see a pretty tree.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're always called to see one in decline.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I actually think we're we're doing a pretty good job of getting the word out on this one.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um a lot of the trees I've been looking at, I don't think it's too late for.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think I I think the um we've done a uh just a good job of getting the word out that this is here, this is happening.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: We we have some some solutions to help keep the trees going if if that's where you choose to go.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Have you seen trees that are three years into this that you've been able to save, or is that too long?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yes, absolutely.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've definitely got some trees that are are night and day from last year to this year and how they how they look.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: And in general, are these homeowners trees or like the city trees or or or all of it?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in general, these are are homeowner trees.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah um I'm not sure if there's too many municipalities that are are are working on treating this.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Do they have beech trees or then they're not treating them, or are they for the most part, beach trees aren't a big part of of being urban trees?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I I would say it's more of like the um park area, so arboretums, um you know, maybe some library grounds, uh those those kind of facilities, but in general, we're not gonna see too many beach trees on like streets or anything like that.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are all types of beach trees affected?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they are.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um there are a lower effect on the European beaches, the purple leaf beaches.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um if if the trees are are stressed out for for other things, um, you know, be then then this would certainly get in there.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um the American beaches are definitely the hardest hit.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um beach trees kind of have a have a tough goal of life.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: They've not only is there beech leaf disease, there's beech bark disease, there's bleeding canker disease, uh, there's various um funguses that can get in there.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's some insects that are kind of unique to beaches that are are fairly benign if if that's the only thing in there.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: But once you kind of compound all these things, then then we're in trouble.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Would you plant a beech tree right now?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, probably not.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's sad, Dan.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's really sad.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Any prognosis?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Are you reading anything, seeing anything?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: I know scientists have to be going crazy working on this, doing everything they can.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Do we have anything in the works that you have read or or uh have thought about that will help the future of this whole species?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I believe there is a search for a natural predator of the of the nematode.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm not sure the status of that research, but I know there are some uh some universities looking into to figuring out where the nematode originated from and are looking to get some natural predators.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I want to go back to this relationship with the client.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, if you've worked with a client for who knows how many years and you know, fertilizing the beech tree and it's it's happy, and then they call you, they see this banding on the leaves.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about these conversations uh that you're having and and how you're how they're making the decision whether to save the tree or or let it go.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: My gosh, if you have a a big old tree, most people are gonna want to save it in any way they can, right?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's usually how the conversation goes.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And for the most part, if if we're working with someone already, we're we're as arborists aware of what's going on.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we're able to catch it early enough and and make sure we're doing all the things we can do uh preventatively if as as much as possible.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I would say if if we're already working with someone who's got a big, beautiful beach tree, they're they're they're gonna be in better shape than than someone who's calling us off the off the street.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Have you gone to properties where it's too late?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: I have, yeah.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: We we've had to come make some tough decisions to kind of relandscape some some properties where it's just there's just no going back.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Is beech tree wood good for anything?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a firewood?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Is it uh building wood?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about it.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um I honestly don't know that we're using it for too many things.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've never heard of it.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've never heard when you when the conversation comes up like, oh, I'm making a uh you know, a table out of beach, or I'm uh I'm gonna be burning all beach because it it burns great, but I've never heard it mentioned.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I it doesn't have as high BTUs as like oaks, so it's not as good of a firewood as the oaks and the maples.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I believe it dries out fairly quick, and when it dries out like that, it kind of cracks a little bit, so it's not the best for working with in terms of woodworking.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: But a beautiful tree, that's the thing.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit about it for people don't really know what a beech tree is.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: It is a it is a beautiful tree, and sometimes only because of the name confused with birch, you know, beech and birch are completely different.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Completely different things, yeah.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can well you start down at the at the trunk of the tree and and the the buttress roots, and and you can just see this beautiful smooth gray bark.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And as they mature, those the limbs just get bigger and bigger into the the branching architecture as these things grow and stretch out is quite unique.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And don't ever carve your initials in one of these trees.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely not.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's definitely a thinner bark tree, and and those wounds, they they could just take time to heal, and that's just a a sight.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, once you once you carve open that bark, um, all sorts of fungus and insects can get in there.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: I hate to see that.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we see it all the time.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: I guess more in public spaces, people do that, and it's it's it's the worst thing you can do, one of the worst things you can do to that tree, right?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Dan, before I let you go, tell me what you hope for the future of beech trees.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: I I hope we can find a natural predator and um that could start working its way through and and kind of naturally lessening the amount of nematodes that are are affecting these trees so that we can do less treatments.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's my hopes.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Dan, it was a uh uh a sad podcast this time around, but uh thanks for all the information.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's great to get the word out uh because this is going to be a disease that's gonna be a problem for a long time uh and as you said continue to spread.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate your the information and uh discussing this issue with us.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks again for being on the show.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: No problem, Doug.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Great to be on.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: I have one beech tree on my property, so I am keeping an eye on it for sure.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Davy Tree Expert Company.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Doug Oster.
• 16:20
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• 16:24
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• 16:26
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• 16:36
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• 16:41
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• 16:46
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