insects — Sonoran Oasis Landscaping

Why is my Aleppo Pine Brown & Dead?

Do you have an Aleppo pine tree that has gotten large sections of dead brown needles in it? Did it seem to turn this way overnight? It could have Aleppo pine blight. Aleppo trees are the large open pine trees, not the Chrismas tree shaped pines.

Keep an eye on your Aleppo Pine trees during the fall and winter. This is when the disease starts to show signs on trees. Some branches will recover in the spring while others will stay brown. It’s very easy to see the brown sections of branches from a distance.

While most Aleppo pines are found in commercial and park settings because of their size, some homes do have them planted in their yards.

It’s thought that the blight is caused by a mite but there isn’t any confirmation on this. Often, tree problems are not noticed until a tree is past the point of saving. Being aware of what your trees should look like and what they actually do look like goes a long way to taking care of problems before they become irreversible. If you have a tree question or problem, contact Sonoran Oasis Landscaping and talk to our on-staff ISA certified arborist.

Cicada Time

One of the clearest memories I have of moving to Arizona as a teenager in the summer is the buzzing sound of cicadas. You could hear them loud and clear. And, then you’d see them flying around in an odd pattern. They’re a beautiful green and black color that sets them apart from other insects.

An interesting fact about cicadas is that only the male makes

the buzzing sound. Females are silent.

The buzzing is a sort of mating call to female cicadas.

Cicadas have a bad reputation for damaging mesquite trees. The female lays her eggs in

a mesquite branch by cutting a notch in it. When the eggs hatch towards the end of the monsoon season, the immature insects fall off the tree and burrow into the soil taking pieces of the branch with them. You can consider it a sort of natural tree pruning. If a tree looks damaged after cicadas have laid eggs in it, it probably had other problems to begin with.

Listen (and you don’t need to listen too closely either) to hear the mating song of the male cicadas. It must be summer in the Arizona desert!