Worst year for d.e.d. elms in decades

MikePoor

MikePoor

Location
urbana, il.
This has got to be the worst year ( in recent decades ) for dutch elm disease. I've been taking down dozens and dozens of these this year. (an average yr. about a dozen) The univ. of ill. plant clinic has only confirmed a few cases but most aren't tested.
 

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this one has an interesting story: it dropped limbs that took the neighbor's power lines down, while the power co. was there another limb fell, the city arborist came to inspect and while he was there yet another limb crashed! Check out this crack hanging over the house!
 

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Every pick of brush was "fly to tie" = no climbing on limb wood. the tree owner is a retired arborist and I.S.A. member so i wanted to hook him up. (no not in the tree! ha!)
 

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I haven't been in the business long enough to say it's the worst in decades. I will say that we've taken down numerous trees this year and you can't drive around town more than 10-15 minutes and not spot at least a couple dead am. elms....
 
the tree took 4.5 hrs. Before i packed up, the neighbor across the street wanted a sib. elm removed. it was a 1.5 hr job so we backed up 40 feet and knocked it out! chipping all the limb wood left room for the logs to fit in one load. (the sib. elm is on the far side) How's d.e.d. been in your area this year? (I know, obviously you all don't have elms.)
 

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I know what you mean , I remember the early 80's . I've taken down over a dozen big Elms since early summer. They just up and die in one year , amazing. I'm taking down a beauty on tues. , well it was a beauty . Stone dead , there is never like a half dead Elm , it's always all dead. The Bacteria Leaf
on the Oaks is the new DED . Make sure you get your D E D shot , before you work on them ( old joke). I work on some monster Elms for some long time customers in Chestnut Hill ,Pa., they are cool looking trees , hard to believe they just up and die like that.
 
Minneapolis can usually count on enough sub-zero nights in the winter, sometimes the summer too :) , to get a good beetle kill and keep DED at tolerable levels. There were a couple of really mild winters a few years ago. The next few summers the DED removal numbers were approaching the same as the mid-70s when DED first came to town and controls were just getting going.

It's really sad to see whole blocks of elms with orange paint rings on them :)
 
I took down 150 or more from some commercial property last year. It had been pasture that was allowed to grow up 30 years ago so they were all that age or younger and I'd guess most of them had been dead for 4 or 5 years. They made the property look lke Chernobyl so they had to go. Some I just dropped and the others were used for firewood. No bark and dry as a bone.
Phil
 
Mike, in 2003 we had a city elm removal contract should of averaged ~ 120 trees, but it mushroomed into over 400 trees. Caught us unprepared, Like Tom said,the numbers were up 300 to 400% that year. Settled back down to pre epidemic #s after that year. We are figuring the elms are surviving a few years with an undetectable infection and we also believe the beetles are overwintering in the siberians.
 
I think the problem here in central il is last years drought. (same as todd's in chi-town) Glad to hear it isn't as bad everywhere. Hey cityclimber, does that tree owner think the price is going to go down the longer they wait (i hope not!) tom i know what you mean about seeing them go! even though d.e.d generates extra work, it's sad to see a client's property change for the worse.
 
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