If you've got Elm trees to prune, now is the time.

"So the Elm pruning ban begins April 1st, and is in effect until August 31st," said Curtis Block, Parks Manager with the City of Weyburn. "It is illegal to prune Elm trees during this time."

He said the ban coincides with the time of year when the Elm bark beetle, which is the factor to the spread of Dutch Elm disease, is most active. 

"So the Dutch Elm disease itself is it's a fungus that infects, and kills an Elm tree by clogging its water conducting vessels," he explained. "There is no cure for Dutch Elm disease, and, in fact, trees should be removed immediately and disposed of by either burning or burial or take to the landfill for disposal of it."

"It's also important to note that it is illegal to store and transport Elm for firewood as well," he noted. "The wood can harbor the Elm bark beetle, which how the Dutch Elm disease can spread so quickly from city to city, province to province."

Block said as early as June you'll notice symptoms of an Elm that has been infected with Dutch Elm disease, because the leaves will turn yellow, then curl and brown. Symptoms usually appear first in the tree's crown and can be seen until fall colours appear. 

"However, the only real method to positively confirm that the disease is present is through laboratory analysis," he said, noting the Parks Department will be surveying for Dutch Elm disease throughout the City beginning in June.

"But really we do it all summer long, so if anyone suspects or sees these symptoms in an Elm tree, they can contact the City of Weyburn Parks Department and we can help out, especially if it's a private tree, we can help out and consult with the homeowner on that."

He noted there is more information under Dutch Elm Disease Control on the City of Weyburn's website.

"There's other information on there, even how to identify an Elm tree, but if there's further information that's required, they can contact the Parks Department."

Block said the City currently does not include Elm trees in the yearly tree planting.

"It's unfortunate, but you you get a whole row of trees and you know Dutch Elm disease can spread very easily, so nowadays we we really plant diversity," he explained. "In urban forestry we want many different other species of trees within the City, so this doesn't happen."

He said it's not just Weyburn dealing with Dutch Elm disease.

"It's been in southeastern Saskatchewan and it's it's making its way up to the Saskatoon area, so it's very important that we try to control as best we can, as there's no cure for it, unfortunately, but there are steps that we can do to help control it, and hopefully in the future we can see these numbers start to decline."

He said the American Elm and Siberian Elm can develop the disease but are not as susceptible to get it.

"I've never seen a Siberian Elm have Dutch Elm disease is usually the American Elm, so we we have lots of them here in the City. And like I said, we're not the only city that has them. Moosejaw, Regina, they have a very high population of Elm trees too."

Trim your Elm trees before April 1st, and remember, do NOT store Elm wood. Take your trimmings straight to the City of Weyburn landfill.

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