While yard work may not be high on your list of priorities this time of year, the City of Regina says now is the best time to start thinking about pruning your elm trees.
Crews were out early Wednesday morning trimming dead branches from elm trees as part of Regina’s Dutch Elm Disease Management Program.
The city prunes from now until the end of March when the trees are dormant.
“It helps reduce the transmission of Dutch Elm Disease and it also reduces beetle activity, and actually improves the overall health of trees,” Ray Morgan, Director of Parks and Open Spaces with the City of Regina said.
Elms are a big feature of the city landscape, making up 30 per cent of all trees.
Unfortunately between 1981 and 2017, 103 trees were lost to Dutch Elm Disease, often spread by the elm bark beetle.
“You’ll find later in the season there will be large sections of the elm that has totally died off,” Tim Van Duyvendyk with Dutch Growers Home & Garden said.
The recent cold snap has kept city crews busy with a new problem, frost cracks.
“When we get those cold temperatures tissues expand the cracks open up residents phone and they’re not sure they think the tree is dying, it’s not dying,” Morgan said.
Bolts are used to secure the tree, which will eventually heal itself.
“The bolt will prevent it from spreading even further and actually the tissue will bond together,” Morgan added.
If you notice cracks you can call the city who will be out to assess. The city is also reminding residents new is a good tie to start thinking about pruning your own Elm trees as bans are in place from April 1st to August 30th.