Garden Detective: area sycamore trees hit with fungus
Sycamore trees can be susceptible to fungal disease anthracnose. Credit: Fotolia
"Management practices that allow better air movement and more sunshine, such as thinning, may inhibit the diseases by helping the foliage dry rapidly after a rain," Seghrouchni advises. "Anthracnose can be reduced by raking leaves and pruning infected twigs and branches to reduce the amount of pathogen, then disposing of the affected material by bagging it, not composting."
In coastal areas, the disease is often more severe because of the misty conditions, she said, which explains why all the letters I've received about sycamores have come from readers on the South Shore.
A female broad-necked root bore (prionus laticollis). Credit: Handout
In addition, hollies are dioecious, which means a nearby male is necessary in order for the female to produce berries. If a female begins berry production but is not properly pollinated by a male, those berries will drop. If you had two trees in the past and recently removed one, that would explain the problem. However, the male needn't be in the same garden bed: A tree in your neighbor's yard could actually have been pollinating your holly, so if you have had only one tree all along, it's possible that someone living nearby removed your pollinator.
