Treatment of diseases and plagues in trees

dutch elm disease

Dutch Elm Tisease has plagued elm trees for over a century.  Now there is a way to prevent this.  A serum has been adapted by the company Dutch Trig.  In 2015 I obtained a licence to use this product in public spaces. This serum is injected into the cambium layer of elms.  It is a verticillium fungus with a very similar genetic makeup to Dutch elm disease. This triggers the immune system of the trees and protects the tree from a Dutch Elm Disease infection.  A video is available in the gallery to see how this works.

I inject thousands of elms in The Hague annually.

Aphid Plagues

With planting the same type of trees in abundance comes problems in abundance.  Lime trees in the city create a perfect habitat for a plague of aphids. These aphids release a sticky substance called honey dew which becomes a problem for anything parked or placed in such streets. For the Council, I place different insects in different locations to combat such plagues. Placing ladybird nests (which each contain 250 ladybird larvae) in trees regulates the aphid population by way of organic extermination. One ladybird larvae can eat between 50 and 100 aphids a day. In other locations I release gall wasps to combat other kinds of aphids.

I have completed my training and received my certificates to release insects to combat plagues. The exact population that is released each year is decided prior to release by an entomologist. The entomologist and myself monitor the populations regularly at different times of the year.

Follow this link to read a published article on my work releasing the ladybirds.

https://editie070.denhaag.nl/nl/editie-no-15/bladluis-bestrijden-met-lieveheersbeestjes/