How to Tell if a Tree is Diseased

It’s easy to take the health of your trees for granted. When healthy, trees are strong and tough, often standing tall for many years without any trouble. Like any other living thing, however, trees can be susceptible to disease, so you’ll want to closely monitor the condition of all the trees on your property to watch for telltale signs of trouble. 

In this article, we’d like to offer a basic education on how to tell if a tree is diseased. If you think you might have one or more diseased trees after noticing some of these signs, reach out to TLC immediately to get help from our expert team. Our arborists are certified by the International Society of Arboriculture as Certified Arborists and are ready to help. We’d be happy to work with you to determine what diseases may impact your trees and what steps should be next. 

How to Tell if a Tree is Diseased

Watch the Leaves Carefully

It is often the leaves of a tree that provide the first indication that something’s wrong with its health. In some situations, this will result in drooping leaves that do not appear healthy or as they did previously. If you notice something “odd” about the state of the leaves, you are probably correct to assume the tree may be sick.

Also, you might find the tree simply isn’t producing as many leaves as it once did. Is a particular section of the tree struggling to generate leaves, or maybe an entire side of the tree is mostly bare? These are also signs of trouble and should not be ignored. Remember, the leaves are what will pull in the sun’s power to give the tree life, so any issues with the health of the leaves are a threat to the health of the entire tree. 

Changes in the Bark

As with the leaves, the bark of the tree will also point to issues. Look around the base of the tree for large pieces of bark that have recently fallen off. All trees will go through cycles of shedding bark to make room for new growth, but you might see bare spots where new bark is struggling to grow or simply isn’t growing at all. 

Big cracks in the bark that run up the tree are another worrisome sign. By its very nature, bark is inconsistent as it wraps the tree, so small cracks may not indicate anything wrong. However, when those cracks get bigger and expose more and more of the underlying trunk, you’ll want to investigate further to figure out what is going on. 

Falling Branches

This is a major sign of a diseased tree and a serious health hazard for people, as well. If your tree starts to drop branches onto the ground, that’s a likely sign that disease has taken hold, and the entire tree has been weakened significantly. Not only will you be concerned about the tree’s future at this point, but you also need to worry about one of those branches falling down when someone is under the tree (or a branch falling in a position that could damage your home). Don’t sit around and wait to take action when your tree’s health reaches this point.

It’s All About Changes

The best way for a property owner to monitor the health of their trees is simply to look for changes. When something is different than it used to be, that’s the best way to be clued in that a disease is present. Trees tend to be remarkably consistent in appearance from year to year (with the obvious seasonal changes accounted for), so any notable differences in how your trees look should alert you. 

Rather than assuming your trees are healthy and being caught off guard by problems that seem to pop up suddenly, it’s better to track the health of your trees over time. Use some of the tips above to monitor for disease and contact TLC to get help, if needed. Thank you for taking the time to stop by, and we look forward to serving you soon.