Tree Pests & Diseases

Trees throughout the Midwest are subject to countless insect pests and diseases. Learn how to recognize signs of infestation or infection, ways to prevent attacks on your trees, and how to minimize damage when destructive insects and deadly diseases reach your yard.

Oak tree with twisted branches, significant canopy dieback, and thinning foliage against a cloudy sky.
Oak Wilt in Your Neighborhood? How to Protect Your Trees Before It Spreads
Your neighbor's oak was just removed. Not long ago, it looked like a healthy tree, and now, you’re ...
Close-up of an ash tree trunk with bark removed, revealing the distinctive S-shaped serpentine galleries carved by emerald ash borer larvae beneath the surface.
When to Treat Ash Trees for Emerald Ash Borer in Cedar Rapids
Emerald ash borer doesn’t kill ash trees suddenly – it kills them quietly. For two to three years, ...
A close-up view of scale insects covering tree branch with ants tending them.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Trees from Scale Insects This Spring
As spring settles into Oklahoma, scale insects begin their active life cycle on trees across the Tulsa area. ...
Dormant oak tree against clear blue winter sky in Davenport Iowa.
Winter Oak Pruning in the Quad Cities: The Right Time for Healthy Resilient Trees
If you have oak trees in McClellan Heights, Hamburg Historic District, or anywhere across the Quad Cities, you ...
A tree in Oklahoma showing yellow leaves with green veins, classic symptoms of iron chlorosis in alkaline Great Plains soil.
Treating Iron Chlorosis: Why Fall Gives Great Plains and Midwest Trees the Best Chance
Have you walked outside this summer and wondered why your beautiful tree suddenly looks sickly yellow? Across the ...
An arborist from Arbor Masters spraying a tree with preventive insecticides in Lee’s Summit, MO.
4 Common Kansas City Tree Pests Homeowners Need to Watch For
Tree-killing pests are becoming an all-too-common problem in Kansas City – and it’s costing homeowners thousands. Insect infestations ...
Healthy oak leaves on a tree in the Great Plains.
Hypoxylon Canker: What Homeowners Need to Know to Protect Their Trees
Beneath the bark of your oaks and other shade trees could be a fungal disease that kills them ...
An elm leaf demonstrating the signs of bacterial leaf scorch in Oklahoma City, OK.
What You Need to Know About Bacterial Leaf Scorch in Oklahoma City
Noticing your tree’s leaves turning brown around the edges – even though it’s only July? You’re right to ...
An oak with large horned oak galls in a yard in the Midwest.
Horned Oak Gall: What Those Spiky Growths on Your Oak Tree Really Mean
Have you noticed strange, spiky growths on the branches of your oak trees? These swollen, woody lumps covered ...
Cluster of oak leaves showing early signs of oak wilt, with green leaves beginning to turn yellow and brown at the edges.
Oak Wilt: The Tree Disease You Can’t Afford to Ignore
When homeowners see their oak trees dropping leaves or turning brown in the middle of summer, it’s easy ...