Protecting Cypress Trees From Canker Diseases

Leyland cypress trees are very common across the southern third of the country, as well as in the states on both coasts in hardiness zones six to eight.hsagencia/Shutterstock

Q: I lost all 12 of my Leyland cypress trees to seiridium canker. I was told by an arborist that the disease spread via the ground, and that there wasn’t anything I could have done to prevent it. He said that once they were infected, there was nothing I could have done to save them.

Some of the trees were higher than my two-story house, and I am still very upset over my loss. Over the years (the trees were about 15 years old when I had them removed), I pruned the trees with hand pruners and a lopper.