(photo taken from the City of Calgary website, see link below)
If you have a Mayday, Schubert’s Choke Cherry, or any other tree/shrub from the Prunus family, you’re likely familiar with the Black Knot Fungus issue in Calgary. It’s ugly, it spreads quickly, and it looks like cat poop on a stick (cannot be unseen)!
It’s easy to see now that the branches are bare so once you spot it, it’s time to act.
If you’re calling an arborist, they’ll know precisely what to do.
If you’re doing the pruning yourself, make sure you read up on it so that you don’t spread the fungus to all your cuts. Proper disposal of the pruned material is also very important and must be taken care of swiftly. You definitely don’t want this stuff hanging around longer than necessary.
What you don’t want to do is ignore it. This stuff spreads faster than a cold at a daycare (I have a sick 4 year old – it’s a topical analogy).
On your next walk around the neighbourhood, take a look at the trees and see how many instances of this disease you see.