3 Diseases That Strike Box Elder Trees—And How a Tree Care Service Can Help

Are you on the market for a mid-sized, fast-growing ornamental tree with beautiful fall foliage? The box elder tree might be the tree for you. With its furrowed gray-brown bark and green twigs, the box elder has a distinctive color scheme that adds a touch of interest to any yard.

Tree ownership does come with some required maintenance that includes regular pruning, proper fertilization, and monitoring for signs of tree disease. What are some of the common tree diseases that strike box elder trees—and how can a tree service company help with them?

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Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that doesn't pose any long-term health risks to the tree but can impact the cosmetic appearance of the tree. The disease causes a white or grayish fuzz to form on the surface of some of the tree's leaves. If the fuzz covers enough of the leaf surface, the fuzz can block photosynthesis and starve the leaf. Starved leaves will prematurely wilt and drop off of the tree.

Ask your tree service to trim off affected leaves and to keep the ground around the tree cleared from the mildewed leaves. Box elders are somewhat resistant to powdery mildew so the disease shouldn't come back the following year.

Slime Flux

Slime flux, also called bacterial wetwood, is a tree disease that strikes younger trees or wounded areas of older trees. The name of the disease comes from the fact that the infection creates discolored bark furrows that ooze a pungent slime.

Trees that are generally healthy can usually fight off the slime flux infection without any help and with only the bark cosmetic damage as a sign. Damaged trees with this issue can become more sick and start to dieback, which means that leaves will prematurely wilt and can grow back a bit smaller the following year.

Keep the tree as healthy as possible by minimizing any damage and asking a tree trimming service to remove any existing branches that have wounds or broken areas.

Cotton Root Rot

Cotton root rot is a fungal tree disease that strikes many types of ornamental trees, including the box elder. Symptoms, which appear from summer to early fall, include a yellowing of the leaves followed promptly by wilting and death. The dead leaves don't fall off the tree but rather remain firmly attached, which is one of the easier ways to suspect that there is a cotton root rot problem.

While the leaves are quickly dying, the disease is also working on the tree's roots and can cause similar withering and death underground. Trees that remain untreated will eventually die of cotton root rot.

Call in a tree service or landscaper from a company like Able Scape, Inc as soon as you suspect a cotton root rot as a multi-faceted approach is the best chance of saving the tree. The treatment can involve application of fungicide, fertilization, and replacing the soil surrounding the tree.