How Beech Leaf Disease Is Impacting the Eastern United States

Dan Hager, district manager of Concord's Hartney Greymont office, a Davey company, discusses the origins of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) and how it is infecting beech trees in the Eastern United States. Hager also discusses treatment options for BLD and research that is being done to understand the disease in more detail. 

In this episode we cover:  

• When did Dan first hear about BLD? (:40)
• How do you know if a beech tree has been infected with BLD? (1:05)
• How does BLD impact trees? (1:36) (1:57)
• How can you help a tree infected by BLD? (2:17)
• Can treatment help a tree fight back against BLD? (3:52) (5:03)
• Where are we seeing BLD? (5:41)
• The feeling of seeing trees infected by BLD (6:06)
• BLD research and next steps (6:55)
• The importance of a diverse landscape (7:51)
• How many tree pests has Dan seen in his career? (8:48)
• Has Dan seen spotted lanternfly in his area? (9:42)
• How Dan got started in arboriculture (10:33)
• When do clients call Dan for a solution or treatment? (11:24)
• The importance of catching BLD early (12:09)
• Solutions and treatments for BLD (12:31)
• The feeling of helping clients with treatments and solutions (13:18)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn more about BLD, read our blog, Is Beech Leaf Disease Impacting Your Trees and listen to our other Talking Trees with Davey Tree episode, What is Beech Leaf Disease? Learn the Signs.

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company 

Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com. 

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davie Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer. This week, I'm joined by Dan Hager. He's district manager of Hartney Greymont, a Davie company in Concord, Massachusetts, and we're talking about how beech leaf disease is affecting the entire East Coast. Dan, welcome to the show.

Daniel Hager: Thanks, Doug. Thanks for having me.

Doug: When did you first hear of this disease?

Daniel: We started seeing this disease probably back in 2022. It was first seen in the Northeast in the Connecticut area back in 2020, and it's slowly worked its way up the coast.

Doug: I'm assuming you heard about it, and thought it might be coming, and then one day you see it, huh?

Daniel: Yes, exactly, yes.

Doug: If I have a beech tree, how do I know if it has the disease?

Daniel: Some of the main symptoms or signs of the disease are going to be that banding between veins of the leaf. You hold a leaf up to the light, you're going to see dark and light bands within it. You're going to see coupling, curling, and distortion of the leaves. The leaves will have a leathery feel to them, and in some cases, the leaves will just fall right off.

Doug: What does that do to the tree? It's a slow effect over a longer period of time. As the tree loses its leaves, it's not able to photosynthesize, and that's what it needs to wake up and re-leaf out the following years. If it doesn't have enough gas in the tank to leaf out, it's going to start declining.

Doug: How does the disease spread?

Daniel: The disease is actually caused by a nematode, which is a microscopic worm. It's believed to be spread by birds, but probably also can be spread by insects and winds. It's a microscopic, tiny little thing. You don't even see them with the naked eye.

Doug: Then what can you do to the tree to help it out?

Daniel: Right now, there's three approved strategies. The first one is a soil-based fertilizer treatment. We call it PP30, it's a phosphonate. That goes into the soil and helps boost the tree's natural immunity, not just to beach leaf disease, but to all things. It helps basically pick it up the cell walls. Second method is a foliar spray. This was a fungicide that was approved to be used for this specific disease.

If we're looking at huge trees, 100 foot, 300 year old beach trees, this method could be problematic because we have to get really, really thorough coverage to really coat the whole tree and really affect those nematodes. The third more recent development is a product that gets injected straight into the tree. This method involves drilling holes into the tree and tapping it and putting this product right into the tree. The research on this is still pretty new and it also involves, I guess, a drilling into the tree and beach trees don't like open wounds. They don't close those wounds up very well. This is a method that we're not quite-- we want to see more research on that method before we start prescribing that.

Doug: Have you been able to fight back the disease on a tree? Fungal diseases in general are always, I think, difficult to deal with, especially once you see them. Is this disease the same way? If I was dealing with apple scab, I would want to treat that like a crab apple before I see signs of damage. Would it be more effective or do you have to wait to see if you have the disease?

Daniel: The PP30 method, the fertilizer method, that's going to have therapeutic benefits because there's multiple diseases and insects that get in beach trees. The foliar we're reserving for trees that have actually have the disease because it's a spray, there's drift involved, there's chemicals flying through the air. We want to be careful and use that as needed. We're seeing positive results, but it is not a cure. It's not a one and done. These are treatments that are going to need to be done annually and hope there is a more curative products down the line.

Doug: Once that nematode is there, it's there, is that right?

Daniel: That's right, yes.

Doug: There's no way to deal with the nematode itself?

Daniel: Not that we're aware of. I know there's been some studies. The nematode originated-- or native habitat is actually in Japan. I'm aware of at least trying to find funding to study in its natural habitat to look for natural predators or ways to handle the nematode.

Doug: Is this another invasive species and that we hadn't seen before? Is that what this is all about? That's exactly what it's all about, yes. Do you know the range of the disease? Where are we seeing it?

Daniel: Basically, we're seeing it from Ohio all the way up through Maine. I'm not aware if it's traveled west. I know it's traveling east for sure.

Doug: It can affect any size beech tree, small to large, huh?

Daniel: Any size beech tree and any species of beech tree as well.

Doug: From your standpoint as an arborist, when one of these things come into our landscape, as a homeowner, it's really depressing. For a scientist like you, do you get that same feeling or it's just like, we'll figure it out?

Daniel: Absolutely. Especially for the beech trees because it's such a legacy tree-- in certain areas, there's trees 300, 400 years old that have been around since the start of the country. If these trees get this disease in it and nothing's done they're probably going to decline fairly quickly. I don't know that a more curative method is going to come up in that time span.

Doug: What do you think is next? I guess research and looking at the nematode from where it's from originally, any ideas what you're thinking of? Is this like getting worse and worse where you're at? Is it spreading as a nematode catches hold in one tree?

Daniel: Yes, it is spreading. I know there's more research being done. I don't know the details of that research. I know that here at Davey, we've got the Institute looking into it. Other major tree companies who've got research labs are also-- It's a neat collaborative effort. They're looking at one avenue, we're looking at another avenue, sharing results, looking at and trying to come up with the best solution.

Doug: When we see something like this again, entering the landscape, I guess it just shows the importance of diversity in our trees and how we should strive for that. Discuss that a little bit.

Daniel: Absolutely. Diversity in the landscape, if you lose one major tree to disease or insect infestation or any of the above stressors , you'll have other trees to help fill in that niche that tree fills. In the forest, beech trees make up about 10% of Northeast hardwood forests. That tree, beech nuts feed a whole ecosystem worth of animals. Losing that is going to have some significant impact.

Doug: Since you've been doing this, tell me how many of these events have you gone through as far as emerald ash borer and whatever else might've come through for you?

Daniel: Yes, so for the Northeast, when I first started in the industry, the winter moth was a big problem pest. In recent years, that hasn't been as big of an impact. Natural predator wasp came in. Spongy moth has had an impact on yolks. The emerald ash borer is still something we're dealing with. Asian longhorn beetle to maybe a lesser extent. I would say in the last 10 years, there's been four or five significant pests.

Doug: Any spotted lanternfly for you yet?

Daniel: Not directly. I know they've been found in Massachusetts and I think they're headed this way, but I actually haven't seen any on the properties I'm dealing with yet.

Doug: That one's interesting because we had it. I'm in Pittsburgh. We had that really bad last year, but this year, it's just in spots so that one seems-- and from interviewing other arborists east of us, they've seen the same thing where it infests and then eventually just fades away. It's still here, but not as an infestation. I just think it's interesting all the different things that we've had to deal with over the years and how they're affecting our forests. It's always a challenge for what you're doing, right?

Daniel: Absolutely.

Doug: Tell me a little bit about how you got into this. Why is this job right for you?

Daniel: I started in arboriculture 10-11 years ago. Basically loved working outside and got to climb trees. Loved climbing. Got into a tree with the power to and I thought this is, "Yes, all right. Let's do this." Just started gobbling up as much information and knowledge about trees and plant health care and pruning and all the benefits we can do to help the trees that are around our properties.

Doug: Are you working a lot out in the field with clients?

Daniel: Yes, that's my main role right now is working directly with homeowners, clients, coming up with solutions for any problems they might have on their properties.

Doug: In the case of beech leaf disease, at what point usually are they calling you? Are they seeing that striped formation in the leaves, or are they waiting? They might not even notice that and waiting till you start to see leaf drop? When do you hear from them?

Daniel: I feel like a lot of our-- people in the northeast have gotten the word about beech leaf disease. If there's a beech tree on their property, they're calling us preventatively, so we're getting into these trees fairly early. There's a handful of people saying, "If there's something going on with my beech tree, can someone come out and take a look?" I'm going to say that's the minority. Most people have heard about beech leaf disease and asking for recommendations preemptively.

Doug: Is it important to get to it early?

Daniel: I think so because beech trees don't just get beech leaf disease. There's other funguses, there's insects, and taking a holistic approach to try and mitigate all those various stressors to really keep that tree as healthy as possible is the strategy we're taking.

Doug: We talk about it on the podcast here and there but talk about the importance of those holistic things that you're doing, and especially fertilizing. I think I always say this, I think a lot of homeowners don't think about fertilizing their trees and that's important, right?

Daniel: It's very important. It's how to say out of mind. You're looking at a canopy, you're not looking at the roots. roots are underground, the soil's conditions, all that, soil compaction, those are some of the most impactful things for a tree's health is making sure the soil's in good shape, plenty of water. If those stressors aren't there, the tree's natural defenses can usually do a pretty good job of sustaining itself.

Doug: Tell me a little bit about the feeling when you're-- are working with clients when you can see something like this, diagnose it and then say ,"Yes, we can treat it," because again, like you said, a lot of these are specimen trees that have been around forever and we love our trees so it must be quite a relief for a homeowner to get the good news; good news, bad news. Good news, at least it can be treated.

Daniel: Absolutely yes it's really great to take a snapshot of a tree that might be in distress and then in supplicant years, one, two, three years down the road, taking another snapshot of it and just seeing how lush the canopy looks, knowing that the tree is really thriving and turned around due to some of the some of the things we can do.

Doug: All right Dan. Thanks so much for filling us in on beech leaf disease. I know you guys will figure it out. At least, I hope you'll figure it out.

Daniel: That's the goal. Hopefully, we can. Thanks for having me.

Doug: Thanks for being on the show, we'll see you. It is comforting to know that the scientists at Davey and other organizations are working to try and figure out beech leaf disease. Now tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company. I am your host Doug Oster. Do me a big favor, subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss a show and if you've got an idea for an episode, maybe a comment, send us an email at podcasts at davey.com, that's p-o-d-c-a-s-t-s @ d-a-v-e-y.com. As always, we like to remind you, on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

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