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Elms Need Plenty Of Friends To Ward Off Beetles And Disease

For the foreseeable future at least, elm trees across Latrobe City will need all the friends they can get, to administer the love and attention they need to survive destructive beetles and disease, Latrobe City has warned.

By Latrobe City - 25th September 2007 - Back to News

The warning follows the conclusion of council’s soil injection program for 2007 aimed at protecting the city’s elms against the voracious elm leaf beetle as the trees burst into their spring foliage.

Latrobe City mayor, Cr Tony Zimora, said that recognising the potential that the spread of the elm leaf beetle had for destroying entire avenues of elms and masses of individual specimens, Latrobe City began treating elms in streetscapes and parks in the 1990s.

"Latrobe City has been one of the most proactive municipal councils in Victoria when it comes to elm tree issues. As the elm leaf beetle spread through the eastern suburbs into Gippsland, council recognised its role, and began applying protective and remedial programs," Cr Zimora said.

"Our original treatment was through bark-banding the elms in summer. This is something any home-gardener can do themselves and we will be advising the community at the appropriate time when they should treat their own elm trees (usually late December or early January). As other treatments became available we analysed their results and for some years have been engaging contractors to administer a soil-injected insecticide which has offered remarkable protection to our elms. We have just completed this year’s streetscape and parkland program which should keep our elms green, leafy and protected from the damage the elm leaf beetles incur."

Council’s arborist, Chris Dash, said an insecticide called Confidor has recently been injected around the root zones of a number of elms in streets and parks throughout the municipality. "The trees take up the treatment through their root systems and it is translocated to their foliage. This method controls the beetles at the larvae stage," Mr Dash said.

"While the treatment requires specialised equipment used by contractors, which is beyond the scope of the home gardener, soil injection is proving a highly effective method for council in treating trees. Inspection of the elm canopy of treated elms will reveal virtually no elm leaf beetle damage."

Mr Dash said there are high hopes long-term that a parasite released at selected sites closer to Melbourne, will eventually bring the elm leaf beetle under control.

"The Keith Turnbull Research Institute reveals that the parasite has not yet established itself in sufficient numbers to have an effect on elm leaf beetle infestations at the control sites. To build up parasite numbers could take many years, so it’s important we remain vigilant and administer our own control measures in the foreseeable future. As we get into high summer, we’ll be calling on people with elms on their own properties to bark-band their trees.

Mr Dash said elm leaf beetle infestations should not be confused with ‘dutch elm disease’. "Australia is currently free of the dutch elm disease fungus which has devastated Europe’s elms. Dutch elm disease reached Auckland as early as 1989, but through good management the disease is still being contained. In Victoria a contingency plan has been drawn up by the ‘Elm Pests and Diseases Task Force’ to tackle the disease should it ever establish itself here.

"Knowing the location of all elms was a key factor in the New Zealand fight against dutch elm disease. Residents here in Latrobe can register elm trees on their own properties with the community group ‘Friends of the Elms Inc’ who are responsible for compiling the Australian register of elms growing on public and private land. Residents can register online at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fote/ or can obtain a registration form from any council service centre.

"Elms were one of the first street trees to be planted in Victoria’s towns and cities. They provide glorious foliage in spring, welcome shade in summer, golden leaves in autumn and a fine tracery of branches in winter. While in the long term our elm population may survive unassisted by man, at this stage we need to be ever vigilant to ensure our elms continue to thrive," Mr Dash concluded.

Enquiries relating to soil injecting elms on private property should be made to Arbor Spray Pty Ltd, telephone 0419 276 365 or visit the website www.arborspray.com.au.

 


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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