Timberlines

By: Shelly Van Landingham

Colorado State Forest Service

August 13, 2004

Greetings; my name is Shelly Van Landingham and I will be the community forester for Eads in 2004. This year, the community forester contract will run for a total of 80 hours on Wednesdays from August 4th through September 29th. Helping people manage and care for their trees is my specialty. Please contact me if you need help with your trees—I will be more than happy to assist! Call me directly at 719.384.9087, or call Dawna Peck at Town Hall (438.5590) and leave a message for me. Normally, the Colorado State Forest Service charges $10.00 for tree consults, but during the community forestry contract, consultations are FREE. You may also see me around town pruning and performing various other duties for the Town; please feel free to come on over and ask me any questions you may have. I’m looking forward to working with the community of Eads!

During the past few years of drought, windbreaks and living snow fences (LSF) have taken a beating. Many have substantial dieback and dead trees. All across Eastern Colorado this decline is being caused by drought, with insects being the secondary damaging force. Insects are always around: When the trees become stressed because of lack of water, or some other environmental stress, the bugs have a chance to take advantage of the trees. Preventative spraying for insects is a good idea during these times of drought, BUT the best thing you can do for your trees is provide supplemental water.

Types of windbreak/LSF trees most commonly affected in Kiowa County have been ponderosa pine, Austrian pine, and eastern redcedar. Most ponderosa/Austrian pine samples have not shown any sign of insects—most have been strictly drought related. We are however, along with drought stress, seeing a few insects in eastern redcedar.

The insects damaging eastern redcedar are the western cedar bark beetle (WCBB) and a flatheaded wood borer. WCBB feed on all native junipers (eastern redcedar is a juniper). These beetles are rarely a problem, but during this extended drought they are taking advantage of drought stressed trees. WCBB larvae feed under the bark and can kill a tree by girdling it. You can identify WCBB by the tunneling patterns made by the larvae under the bark. Remove infected or dead wood and use the chemicals permethrin (Astro) or carbaryl (Liquid Sevin) at the recommend bark beetle rate to treat high-risk trees (i.e. trees that have infected branches or trees that

are adjacent to other infected trees). Use sprays as a trunk drench during the adult flying period of June through September. One treatment will provide protection for 3 months.

The flatheaded wood borer bores under the bark and sometimes into the sapwood and heartwood of the tree, and can be identified by removing the bark of a dead or dying tree and looking for actual larvae or larger-sized random tunnels that are tightly packed with fine boring dust. The best treatment for the flatheaded wood borer is to treat uninfested trees with permethrin (Astro) or carbaryl (Liquid Sevin) at the recommended rate for wood borers and bark beetles. Use sprays as a trunk drench during the adult flying period of May through

June. One treatment will provide protection for three months.

It is important to dispose of infested trees or branches by promptly burning them or hauling them off. Both of these insects will continue to breed in dead wood, producing more offspring that will infect adjacent trees.

It cannot be stressed enough to provide supplemental water to your trees, whether they are a young or an older established windbreak, or a tree in your yard. Try to establish at least 12 inches of soil moisture within the drip line (from the trunk out to furthest reaching branches) when you water. Let the soil dry out a bit before watering again. Deep watering in this manner will help improve the health of your trees. Also, try to deep water during the fall and winter once every two months or so. Even though trees are less active during this time, they still require moisture to maintain health, especially during drought.

If you have any questions regarding this article, please call Shelly at 719.384.9087.