What is Plant Health Care?

In the banner photo above, European pine sawfly larvae are eating away on Scotch pine needles. Without treatment, defoliaton of the trees needles can result in decline or death. Pests and diseases are not the only part of tree care though. Soil conditions, nutrients, and beneficial symbiotics help trees get healthy and stay healthy.

Why Hire an Arborist for Plant Health Care?

It can take multiple human lifetimes to replace a mature tree. These trees are alive, which is what makes them beautiful. They have a great impact on the quality of a property and its value. But similar to humans, trees might require additional health support as they grow older. Don't get stuck having to remove a majesty heritage tree that could have been protected.

What does Plant Health Care Services Cover?

Taking care of tree health is incredibly complex and requires a lot of knowledge, care, interest, and passion to do it right.

We use:

Preventive measures such as growth regulators, structural support systems, and cavity checks.
Nutrition boosts in the form of micronutrient injections or soil ammendmants.
Pesticides to fight infections and infestations of insects, fungi, mites, and bacteria. (Pando does not spray pesticides. All of our treatments are injected directly into plant tissue or the soil around a trunk.)

Professional arborists prepare a mature sycamore tree for treatment against a fungal disease called sycamore anthracnose.

Have a plant health care specialist visit your landscape and inspect your plants. They can provide diagnoses and recommendations as needed.

Learn More -- Contact an arborist

Divisions of Plant Health Care:

Nutrients and deficiencies
Growth Regulation
Pests and diseases
Herbicides
Soil Conditions
Biostimulants

Chlorosis symptoms from a magnesium deficiency in a flowering dogwood leaf.

Nutrients and Nutrient deficiencies:

Utah soils are not ideal for most landscape plants. The high pH (basic soils) is hard on tress and frequently results in iron and manganese deficiencies in plants. These deficiencies are treatable with soil ammendments or trunk injections; resulting in healthy, vibrant trees with beautiful fall colors.

Many deficiencies can be identified by visual inspection. If not, plant tissue analysis and soil analysis can be done to pin down a plant's issue. Contact an local tree expert to help identify a nutrient difficiency in a tree.

Growth Regulation:

Growth regulators such as Cambistat® help slow down growth rates of plants. There are many use cases for these products. Nearly all trees in the Utah valley benefit from the health boon received from growth regulators. Contact an arborist at Pando Tree Company for pricing information.

Professional arborist and certified pesticide applicator Ryan Quinn applies Cambistat (growth regulator) to help treat leaf necrosis in a mature sycamore suffering an anthracnose fungal infection.

Elm bark beetle in a Siberian elm, visible after removing the bark from a cut down tree. These beetles are the main vector for Dutch Elm Disease.

Pests and diseases:

There are many pests and diseases that pose significant threats to tree and plant health in Utah. Treatment varies depending on the pest and tree species. Ask an expert tree doctor at Pando Tree Company to diagnose your tree's issue and formulate a treatment plan.

Herbicide:

Sometimes the pest is a tree or plant growing on your property. Maybe invasive species like Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), tree of heavan (Ailanthus altissima), and others cause damage to property and attract unwanted insects. Pando Tree Company has exprets in local tree removal and have appropriate licensing and products to prevent regrowth from stumps.

This spruce trunk was buried in over a foot of excess soil and mulch. Root crown excavation enables proper exchange of gases and nutrients critical to the tree.

Soil Conditions:

Getting to the root of the problem sometimes means getting to the soil. Aside from soil components and resources, physical issues like soil compaction take a major toll on trees. Pando Tree Company has the resources to repair soils.

Mycorrhizae and Biostimulants

Trees haves symbiotic relationships with fungi called mycorrhizae. In Utah's poor soils, adding mycorrhizae can improve a tree's water and nutrient absorption.

Adding biostimulants can increase nutrient uptake, root development, and tolerance of environmental stresses.

Canopy Assessments and Structural Support

When trees are wounded they can develop cavities inside the wood that can leave a limb susceptible to breaking. Cavaties can be identified and measured. Compromised limbs can be supported with structural support systems and pruning.

Injuries can result in decay of interior wood, which can leave a limb or trunk compromised. Here an arborist is measuring the depth of a cavity in an oak tree.

What to Ask an Arborist Before Hiring Them

There are quite a few 'tree companies' out there charging a lot fo poor work. It's hard for customers who aren't tree experts to assess though. Here are a few things to ask a tree company before hiring them for plant health care.

Can you provide a copy of your insurance?
Are you a certified pesticide applicator? (Legally must be yes to provide services)
Can you diagnose the problem? (unfortunately some people treatments before providing a diagnosis, which could lead to wasted effort and $$)
What are the pros and cons of treatment?
Can you provide customer references?

Double Check!

**Double check your arborist’s credentials before hiring them..**

Don't hesitate to double-check qualifications. Tree care is a long lasting investment. Best to choose a great arborist the first time.

Costs of Plant Health Care

Health care takes a fair bit of resources. Usually costs per tree range from $100 to $2,000; depending on the size of tree and treatment being done. Considering how much it would cost to transplant a mature tree (millions) we think it is well worth the cost.

An arborist from Pando can measure your tree and provide a diagnosis with a treatment plan and quote.

get a quote