Report It: Protect Ohio Trees From Dangerous Invasive Pests. Ohio’s trees face growing pressure from invasive insects and pathogens that can weaken neighborhoods, damage ecosystems, and create hazardous deadwood. Some of these pests are already here. Others — like the European chestnut moth — have devastated trees overseas and could threaten our buckeyes if introduced. Early reporting is one of…
Across Europe, one tiny insect has transformed entire city landscapes, weakened iconic trees, and forced municipalities into costly annual treatments. That insect is the European chestnut moth (Cameraria ohridella) — a leaf mining pest that aggressively attacks horse chestnut trees and spreads with explosive speed. While not currently found in the United States, this pest poses a serious threat if…
Last year’s red legged lanternfly outbreak in Cleveland caught many homeowners off guard. Entire neighborhoods saw trees dripping sap, covered in black sooty mold, and swarmed by insects. For some properties, the damage was so severe that trees became dangerous, unstable, and had to be removed before they collapsed. If you’re wondering whether your own trees might be at risk,…
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), commonly called the ash borer beetle, is one of the most destructive invasive insects ever introduced to North America. Since its arrival, it has killed tens of millions of ash trees across the United States and Canada, reshaping forests, neighborhoods, and city landscapes. What Is the Ash Borer Beetle? The ash borer beetle is…
Did you come across any caterpillars with red and blue dots on their backs this summer? Did you come across any caterpillars with red and blue dots on their backs this summer? Ohio’s trees are facing a stubborn invader: the spongy moth. This pest has been spreading across Northeast Ohio, and its damage is becoming more visible in neighborhoods from…
Shelf fungi—also known as bracket fungi or polypores—are some of the most recognizable organisms in the fungal world. Growing in layered, plate like formations on trunks, branches, and stumps, they form the “shelves” that give them their name. But behind their striking appearance lies a powerful ecological role and, in many cases, a serious threat to tree health. What They…
“Chondrostereum purpureum” may not be a household name, but homeowners, arborists, and landscapers should know it well. This fungus—best known for causing “silver leaf disease”—is one of the most destructive pathogens affecting fruit trees, ornamentals, and stressed hardwoods across North America and Europe. It thrives quietly in dead wood, old stumps, and pruning wounds, waiting for the perfect opportunity to…
Chestnut blight is a lethal fungal disease caused by *Cryphonectria parasitica*, an invasive pathogen introduced from East Asia in the early 1900s. Within just a few decades, it wiped out nearly all mature American chestnut trees (*Castanea dentata*), a species once considered the “redwood of the East” for its size, strength, and ecological importance. [NC State Extension Publications] 🌰 Chestnut…
Dryad’s saddle (also called pheasant’s back) may look charming on a stump—but its presence is a warning sign. This fungus is a parasite that spreads from decaying stumps into living trees, slowly eating away their heartwood and leaving them structurally weak. Once it colonizes a stump, it sends its decay into nearby hardwoods—elm, maple, ash, beech, willow, poplar, and more….
When most people think about climate change, they picture melting glaciers, rising seas, or extreme storms. Few imagine a quiet, rotting tree stump in the corner of a yard — and even fewer imagine that stump becoming a micro‑ecosystem that supports one of North America’s most notorious spiders: the brown recluse.Yet this is exactly how global warming reshapes our neighborhoods….
