Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Leyland Cypress In Georgia

We have 4 Leyland Cypress trees along the back of our home that have disease (which I read up on) we have cut all the die back branches off and we have seen the red sap running down the trunk in these areas....will the tree sprout new branches where we cut off ??? Is there anything I can spray on the trees to stop the problem???We are on a complete outside watering ban in Georgia and so the only water they get is when I was watering through a sprinkler system and any little rain we might get. Please help.....Am I going to loose my babies??? I have a total of 15 of them and to loose these 4 would be a big problem cause we are growing them for privacy. Thanks for your immediate help.

Anne's response:

I don’t know whether the disease is Coryneum cardinale or Cytospora cenisia. Cutting out affected branches and spraying with a copper fungicide is the usual remedy. If the trunk of the plant is affected it is usually recommended that the entire plant be removed to keep the disease from spreading to other plants in the row. The disadvantage of growing a monoculture for a privacy hedge is that if one plant gets a disease all of the plants in the row will get it because they are planted so closely together. The better privacy screen is usually a combination planting of several different plants and planting them in a staggered row instead of a straight line. This gives better air circulation and makes it more difficult for a disease or insect problem to pass from one plant to the next.

No comments: