I was walking through the neighborhood, and passed by some pretty horrid looking sycamore trees. They looked very dead. I had also seen a similar looking tree by my grandmas. After working for the Extension service for many years, I had to find out what was causing it. I got on my computer, and in about 2 minutes (Working for the Extension service made me fast. I don’t know everything, but I’m fast at finding answers.) I found the problem. Anthracnose.

I thought the trees were dead but I have some great news: they aren’t. (Although it looks pretty severe and it can eventually result in death. Just not usually.)   So, little background. Anthracnose is a fungal disease that attacks a variety of shade trees. The one I saw was sycamore anthracnose. The reason it is so dramatic is the very cold wet weather we have been having lately.

For control: keep trees healthy. Use sanitation by destroying fallen leaves/other debris to prevent overwintering. Prune out dead branches. You can use fungicides to prevent it if you know it’s going to be a cold wet spring. (But try spraying a 30+ foot tree. It probably won’t do that much anyway, and it’s hard to predict cold wet springs). It’s a plant disease, usually non fatal. One thing about plant diseases is there is simply no miracle way to control them.

Check out this link for more info: Anthracnose