Now that gardening season is here again, the City of Sarnia is urging residents not to prune oak trees between April and July to prevent the spread of oak wilt.
The disease, which is expected to arrive in Ontario soon, is a fungus that attacks and quickly kills otherwise healthy trees by restricting the flow of water and nutrients in the outer sapwood.
It’s spread by beetles attracted to open wounds on oak trees caused by pruning or other damage to the protective bark.
Preventative measures include delaying limb and branch pruning until August, not moving firewood and using weed trimmers and mowers cautiously near trees, city officials say.