PROSPECTS FOR LONG TERM PROTECTION AGAINST DECAY IN TREES

The natural defences of trees provide the only proven form of long term protection against decay, but they are too often rendered ineffective by severe wounding and other avoidable damage.

A few fungicides and sealants, including mercuric oxide and polyvinyl acetate, have delayed fungal colonisation of wounds for several months, while the biological control agent Trichoderma sp. has given significant protection over four years.
Proper evaluation of such treatment would require fundamental research and long term trials.
For future plantings, genetic selection might help to reduce the incidence of decay, at least in clonally propagated species.

Possibilities for curative treatment remain conjectural, but application of existing knowledge could help to avoid making decay worse by unsuitable treatment.

The Scientific Management of Vegetation in the Urban Environment

D. Lonsdale

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.195.3