SWAMPSCOTT — Vice chair of the Tree Committee Richard Frenkel knows that when it comes to diagnosing trees, the work is no laughing matter.
The town, which has been coordinating with local arborists and the Department of Public Works (DPW), has been hard at work to actively identify diseased trees throughout the town, even adjusting maintenance schedules in order to better manage risks. Residents are also encouraged to keep a keen eye on the matter, and are asked to look for canopy thinning, leaf discoloration, or unusual patterns in the bark of town trees.
Frenkel noted that “this is the work that the town needs to do more of, and we’re working with arborists to look at trees and see which ones need attention.”
For Frenkel, the mission to identify and treat diseased trees started quite close to home, where a giant Copper Beech tree “dominates” his front yard, which likely dates back to 1912. However, several years ago, he noticed bare branches on the tree before consulting with an arborist, where he learned the truth of the issue and how deep it runs.
It was determined that the tree had a fungus called “Phytopthora,” which can cause cankers on the tree. Frenkel continues to treat the tree in the hopes of mitigating the infection.
However, concerns have been raised around town about a different disease, “Beech Leaf Disease,” which is caused by tiny worms introduced from Japan, and was first detected in Massachusetts back in 2020, according to the town’s June newsletter.
The newsletter cited the massive tree on the lawn outside town hall, which doesn’t yet show symptoms of a disease — but many others around town do, for example, at Pvt. Raymond Howland Park, all the hemlock trees were killed by “hemlock wooly adelgid infestations,” which involve sap-sucking insects from East Asia.
Severe droughts in 2016 and 2022 made trees more susceptible to these blights, and as trees get older, they become more susceptible. “The good news is that we’re replacing old street trees with new ones faster than they die, with species that are likely to deal well with the changing climate and are resistant to known diseases,” the town said in the newsletter.
Long-term solutions for the issue require both community involvement as well as adaptive planning. In order to make sure that town trees remain a critical part of Swampscott’s landscape, investments in tree care and continual education are instrumental in helping the town mitigate the dangers of tree infestation
