Learn About Tree Pest and Disease Management
The key to protecting your trees against the damaging effects of diseases is determining the issues source. With our tree care solution, you can count on our certified staff to diagnose the problems affecting your tree. Here are some common tree diseases, pests, and insects in Nova Scotia currently:
White Pine Blister Rust ( Cronartium ribicola )
The most destructive disease of the white pine in North America. Elongated cankers girdle the stem and eventually kill the tree beyond the cankers. White pine blister rust kills white pine of all ages and sizes.
Sugar Maple Borer ( Glycobius speciosus )
The most obvious sign is the presence of elongated swelling in the bark, which will eventually split open leaving a wound. This borer in larval form creates galeries which disrupt sap flow and reduce the trees vitality. This borer has a 2 year lift cycle. The larvae tunnel about 10 cm deep into the sapwood and create a chamber in which they overwinter and then pupate the following year.
Brown Rot / Heart Rot
Wood decaying organisms that rapidly break down cellulose and hemicellulose leaving behind brittle, brown cubical cracked wood. Primarily affecting hardwoods but also softwood species. Fungi enter through wounds causing structural failure. Exterior conks ( fruiting bodies can be found )
White Rot /
White rot is a destructive tree disease caused by fungi that break down lignin and cellulose, leaving wood soft, spongy, stringy and often white in colour. These fungi include Ganoderma and Armillaria species. Commonly infecting hardwood trees making them significantly weaker leading to structural failure.
White Pine Weevil ( Pissodes Strobi )
Hosts include White pine, Norway spruce, white spruce, jack and Scots pine.
Damage is caused mainly by the Larve which feed under the bark of the trees terminal leader. Adult weevils can also damage the leader.
Spruce Budworm ( Choristoneura fumiferena )
This defoliator begins at the top of the tree and quickly progresses downwards. Damage appears in May. During epidemics the larvae may destroy all the cones. Affected trees turn a rust colour due to the presence of the dried out needles held by strands of silk spun by the larvae. Native species the spruce budworm is considered the most serious pest of fir and spruce forests in the Maritimes.