janedoe (08-15-2014)
We had a stunted magnolia tree by the driveway at one point. We had it pulled up because of this:
Magnolia trees sap-sucking scales | LawnSavers Blog
I thought it was a fungus but it seems to be the result of an insect that sucks the sap out of the tree, blackens the leaves and literally takes the life out of the tree. Now our beautiful, mature magnolia in front of our house has been attacked and it kind of breaks my heart. This tree is just gorgeous.
Most of what I'm reading online are ads for various kinds of insect management, etc but some claim that it is, in fact, a fungus in spite of the fact that the pictures don't look a bit different to me. The fungus people claim that taking off every affected branch and sanitizing the pruning blade after every cut then removing the branches from the property is the way to go. This would be a problem since some of it is showing up on the trunk. The insect management people recommend various types of insecticide that is put on the ground around the tree so that would ruin my vegetable garden nearby.
Does anyone have experience with this? I would hate to lose the tree but the alternatives don't seem great.
Thanks.
That's terrible. Sorry, I have no experience with this. Had a beautiful magnolia at a house I used to live in. Went by a few years later and saw they had done a hatchet job on the lower branches just to put a picnic table under it.
janedoe (08-15-2014)
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