Mistletoe effective removal ?

devo

Hay all

I am after some infos in removing Mistletoe , I have a group of large Poplars that are full of Mistletoe .

The trees are soon to be surrounded by a building site , so they will soon have alot of stress as as the ground water will be sunken in order to lay foundations , due to this we are searching for a way to reduce the Mistletoe and place as little amount of stress on the trees as possible .

Removing the branches effected would be good unfortunatly that would leave us with no more tree.. not so good

I will try get some pics up soon


regards steve

Eric Frei

Lots of good information in this thread.

pink gum now on threatened species list

Where trees are overly affected (most of the canopy), especially the main trunk/branches I remove the tree unless it can stay for habitat.

The trees of yours will only get worse. You wrote that cutting off the mistletoe would result in no tree left.

What's the solution, lop off all the mistletoe and pollard the tree with regular maintenance? That's about how I see it.

I think before building commences it would have to be evaluated as to whether or not the trees be replaced.

If your hands are bound and the trees must stay, and brutal pollarding is not allowed then leave them alone, mulch them and provide them with all the TLC they need and let them die slowly with adequate room around them so they dont drop stuff on targets. Frequent dead wooding of limbs will be required in the future.

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devo

thanks ekka

yea thats about the guts of it , the trees must stay and it really is a matter of helping them to die gracefully ,

And they are dropping large branches , there are branches onm the ground 70 - 80mm diameter

Im heading out there today

Thanks for your opinion

Eric Frei

If you can take some pictures, it's always nice to see what others do.

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treevet

Some interesting dynamics involved with this plant. As I understand it, it primarily uses its host for water and nutrients. It does however steal sugars it needs and consequently injures and weakens the host while reducing its own photosynthetic needs.

While it obviously is a detriment to its host it has become protected for its benefits to wildlife. Go figure. They would and have I am sure found alternative sources for their needs if this parasite was not available.

What are the mechanics involved with the penetration and usurping of water, sugar and nutrients? We do not have this plant as prob. too far north. It is south of us in warmer climates.

newguy18

I've had a few oaks that were infested with misletoe,after removing al the misletoe and the deadwood it looked like a big bonzai tree.
Bad part is its just wasted effort and money in the end,it just grows back,around here,think that there is a spray the utility company uses to kill it,but i'm not surewhat it is or how it effects the tree.

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old schooler

pcarborist

Florel growth regulator reportedly works on mistletoe, it might be worth a try.

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parkcityarborist

devo

Thanks for the info's

ive got photos just gotta figure out how to make them smaller to upload them

We have pretty much decided on the following : remove large Mistletoe
Crown reduction 10-15 %
Dead wooding
and in a few cases a crown cable system
Feritlising
Watering ( due to the lowering of the water table)

A few will be removed as they are already too far gone


There are 37 large Poplars between 26 and 37 meters
and 8 Betula pendula around 25 meters

So will be a big job Luckily accsessable with a Bucket

ok back to trying to sort the photos out

Robert STAVROU

Afternoon gentlemen,
don't know whether a cable or bracing approach is all that effective on Poplars or indeed Salix. As they enter their mortality spiral, brittleness and failure is quite common, cabling may just leave large limbs suspended in the air (not necessarily the look you are after). Mistletoe is spread by a native migratory bird (think all mistletoe is native) the food source essential for their flight patterns (think they come via Gunnedah, Bellingen etc) don't know a great deal about them. The revised 'Red Book' by Harden now has a mistletoe key. Once removed it does not resprout, new outgrowths are generally still the result of the birds (the seed and excrement is viscous/sticky, hence they wipe their butts on the branches). Larger removals and cytokinon stimulation may improve tree health and vitality and hence lessen failures. May not save the trees in the long run! take care Stav

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STAV

treesandsurf

The best study I've found regarding mistletoe removal was done by Watson & Trinidad:

Article Request Page

My interpretation of the results leads me to believe that simply removing the mistletoe may be the wiser of the management strategies, when the cost to the property owner and the relative effectiveness of the treatments in comparison to mistletoe removal are considered.

jp

KevinE

I just got home from under pruning a cootamundra wattle on the front lawn of a house being prepared for sale. The pruning was done due to the tree having limbs all the way from ground level, thus it was consuming the yard. When I got under it & opened it up a bit, I was amazed at the amount of mistletoe growing throughout the tree. Otherwise, the tree looked extremely healthy. I'm guess-timating that a single mistletoe took a hold under the canopy unobserved a number of years ago & has colonized the entire tree? Is this type of infestation common for these wattles, or was it just that the opportunity arose & the parasite seized the moment?

Eric Frei

Opportunistic I'd say with a very local critter spreading it.

Also Casuarina mistletoe| Amyema cambagei

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