When man interferes with these natural functions, he creates a biological nightmare that he and his trees become slaves to, unless he chooses to wake up from this bad dream.

The natural healthy state for a tree is to let it grow to its full reproductive state and natural beauty. In the Urban setting, the nutrient rich top soils are scraped away to set a foundation and construct a home. As part of the landscape process, building debris and waste is dumped or poured on the ground, then buried and covered up. Man intervenes with landscaping, crowding the trees with shrubbery and grass. When finished it is called: “Home Sweet Home”.

Man has exerted a great crushing pressure on his once beautiful delicate trees. In the process the tree trunks are gauged, debarked, roots trampled and limbs torn off and broken. The damaged trunk cell walls and delicate vascular tissue has suffered tissue injury and construction stress. Man proceeds with inadvertent pruning, chopping and hacking off limbs without design, regard or concern for sanitary hygiene for his trees, to most efficiently transfer disease inoculums from one tree to another. Thank God he does not carve up the Thanksgiving Turkey with his pruning tools. This would be grounds for spousal murder.

As the injured, brutalized and infected patient tries to deal with the tough rigors of day to day survival the best it knows how, its caretaker decides it’s lunchtime. A cocktail first, Vermouth (Insecticide) Gin (Fungicide) misted over the entire tree for the effects of a fresh cooling shower, always best before lunch. For the first course and amendments, hearty vegetable soup of broth (liquid N) salt (K) and pepper (P), but there seems to be something missing. Where is the substance? Where is the beef? Meat (Ca & Mg), potatoes (S), carrots (Zn an Mn), green beans (B & Cu), onions (Se &Mo), and corn (Co, V &Ni); all part of the diet. The caretaker has just piled enough addicting, substance-less junk food around his trees and landscape to last for twelve months.

The patient, now a drug addict, is rushed to emergency, suffering from a drug overdose. Infection (anthracnose, fusarium) sets in and mega doses of drugs (fungicides) are administered to the weak and dying patient. Now in its immunes compromised state, the tree doctor (Lawn &Tree Man) prescribes more vegetable soup (broth, salt and pepper). The patient’s lab test indicates anemia so a STAT blood transfusion (iron) is ordered. As the infection become critical, more drugs (fungicides; electrolytes and nutrient infusion) are prescribed. A skin carcinoma (browning and scorched leaf tips) develops and begins to spread. A transplant is ordered by the doctor, but too late; the patient dies of addiction and drug overdose.

Meanwhile the disease-contaminated body fluids were spread by man’s surgical tools to other once healthy green trees and an epidemic begins among the rest of the immune compromised suburb residents.

This nightmare plagues not only the tree and landscape industry; it is equally frightening to the agricultural and other related industries. Is there a way out of this bad dream? .............. Yes !

Balanced nutrition and appropriate tree care.