Everyone enjoys having flowering ornamental trees like crabapples in their yard, but they do not know how much effort goes into producing these trees. Ornamental trees are very disease prone, and timing sprays are critical. The wet springs coupled with infection points (flowers opening) lead to a perfect storm of potential disease inoculation.

At Goodmark our IPM program dictates we spray our flowering ornamentals 3-4 times in the spring. The ornamentals we prioritize are Malus, Crataegus, Prunus, Pyrus and Amelanchier. The diseases we are looking to control are rust, scab, and several blights including fire blight. It is important to rotate modes of action between each spray.

Here is an example of our schedule this year

Spray 1: Leaf Bud Swell- Myclobutanil (Eagle 20)
Spray 2: Leaf Emergence – Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate (Phyton 27)
Spray 3: Flowering/End of Flowering – Azoxystrobin, Benzovindiflupyr (Mural)
Spray 4: Post Flowering – Thiophanate-methyl (Cleary 3336)

If you budget or weather does not allow for each of these sprays. Our recommendation would be the Phyton 27 spray. Phyton 27 is a copper will help prevent bacterial blights as well as provide broad protection against many fungal diseases. This spray is a 48-hour REI though so make sure to plan accordingly.