2025 Tree Trends
In the grand scheme of a tree’s life, one tree ring (the record of one year’s growth in circumference) does not tell the whole story. The success and positive growth of a tree is dependent upon many factors over a larger span of time. The long-term changes in the environment, more specifically the extreme temperatures and rainfall events, limit the tree’s potential growth.
As we reflect on 2025, there were some significant developments and weather patterns that do leave lasting effects on trees in our area of northern Kentucky.
- · The spotted lanternfly became familiar to all of us. Our crew members saw them mostly feeding on the tree of heaven in July and August. We predict that in 2026 there will be sightings beginning earlier in the season as they hatch from the overwintered eggs. Scientists are still uncertain about the potential damage that may be caused by these insects. We do recommend removing any tree of heaven where possible.
- · Ornamental pear trees have been repeatedly infected with severe fungal diseases over the past several years. Both rust and fire blight cause foliar lesions and reduce the amount of canopy foliage causing a decrease in the tree’s ability to photosynthesize .
- · Although the spring and early summer months’ weather provided plenty of rain and moderate temperatures, the months of August and September were extremely dry. The drastic change in consistent rainfall limited many trees’ ability to ward off late season disease pathogens and opportunistic pests. There were many cases of bacterial leaf spot, anthracnose, aphids, and other insect outbreaks very late into the fall as the trees struggled from the drought conditions.
- · Unfortunately, we did encounter more cases of “sudden branch failure” or “summer branch drop” in larger and mature trees. This occurs more often in large oak trees that become weakened during multiple and repeating periods of drought. Overweighted and weakly attached branches can fail without warning on calm, windless days. Trees that experience limb losses in this way are much more likely to be severely stressed and in need of risk mitigation.
On the brighter side, we did not encounter any laboratory documented cases of oak wilt disease in our northern Kentucky counties. Although, there has been a lot of misinformation about the timing and pruning of mature oak trees, we are happy that customers are realizing that they should rely on certified arborists with current knowledge of tree diseases.