‘Holes or spots on leaves of a tree can tell if it is diseased or not’

Singh, who retired as an executive engineer of the Horticulture Department of the UT Administration, told The Indian Express, “Sometimes the drying of leaves or shedding is considered as a natural phenomenon. For a common man, the only sign to look out for in a tree is if its leaves have holes or spots. Spotting in leaves happen when a tree is diseased. Accordingly, help can be sought from an expert and treatment started.”

Singh also said that a tree gets hollow when there is an attack by a stem borer — any insect larva, or arthropod, that bores into plant stems. Attack by a stem borer often leads to decaying of a tree.

“A thin mud like line inside the trunk can give us an idea if a tree is termite infested or not with the naked eyes. When a stem borer attacks, a tree starts getting hollow from the inside and begins to die,” he said.

He insisted that proper pruning of trees was also important.

“We just often cut a branch of a tree or prune it a little and leave it like that. It is just like leaving a wound open. If cut improperly, a tree attracts insects. It is important to treat an improperly cut tree, else insects start feeding on it or the same becomes exposed to

moisture in the air and can become fungus laden,” Singh added.

TREE DOCTORS

Singh also specified how countries abroad like China and Japan have the culture of having “tree doctors” — who are responsible for taking care of trees, give them treatment from time to time and are also responsible for their upkeep and maintenance.

“I was in Muscat for six years on deputation and even there they had this culture of taking care of the upkeep and maintenance of trees and giving them treatment,” he added.

LIST OF 100 HERITAGE TREES

Dr Harjit Singh, who is also associated with the Chandigarh Tree Lovers Society, said that he and his colleagues had submitted a list of 100 heritage trees to the administration to help them compile a list.

“There are many trees which are more than 100-years old. They are located in schools, gurdwaras, temples, bus stands. The one located inside Carmel Convent school was also on that list. We had formed a team that had meticulously travelled across the city and identified 100 such heritage trees and submitted a list of the same to the administration. However, the administration just took around 30 trees from that list and declared them as heritage,” Singh said.

He added that trees need expert care else they too decay and die.

For example, he said, Gulmohar trees have a lifespan of 25-30 years and must be provided treatment after a certain age. He said that normal spraying for fungus and termites need to be undertaken from time to time, with special attention required before the monsoon season.

“Carmel tree may have been improperly pruned”

Singh said that the heritage peepal tree at Carmel Convent School may have been improperly pruned, leading to the incident.

“I feel that the tree was not pruned right. It also needed to be treated. Basically the tree was left in an injured state and termites started eating it up leading to it collapsing,” he said.