 Plant Diseases in Arkansas
Stem Canker in Leyland Cypress
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Leyland cypress is a very common evergreen ornamental that is being grown
quite a bit here in the state as a replacement for the red tipped photinias.
However a lot of people don’t realize that this plant is very susceptible to a
particular disease that causes the branches to die back. We’re seeing these
symptoms quite frequently in landscapes across the state right now and we feel
like probably this disease is a direct result drought conditions that existed
perhaps this past winter.
Quite a bit of research out of the state Georgia indicates that this is a
stress pathogen. That is it is going to attack trees that are drought stressed.
One of the easiest ways to recognize this particular this branch canker or
stem canker as we call it, is the fact that branches will begin to die back from
the ends of the twigs and extend toward the center of the tree. One good
indication of this disease is that this die back will be in a random fashion on
the tree rather than in a uniform type distribution. So this will be a very good
clue for the homeowner that indeed they may have this disease.
This can be very severe on stressed trees. This organism gets inside the
wood, causes a die back, and will extend itself down into the main stem of the
tree and can kill the tree if not taken care of right away.
We suggest that a homeowner if they do suspect they have this disease, is to
contact our local extension office and arrange for a sample to be sent through
them, to the diagnostic lab at Lonoke.
Once it’s been verified the best way to control it is to just going to be
prune those affected branches from the tree. Ideally we want to locate the
transition area between the dead wood and the green wood on those particular
branches and go down in the green wood and just snip it out with a pair of
pruning snips.
Now as an extra precaution, it’s a good idea to sanitize the pruning snips
after every cut. Something like a 10% household bleach solution or 70% rubbing
alcohol is sufficient.
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