"Me" wrote in message
om...
I see this is not such an easy decision! I appreciate the range of
comments and that this group does not disintegrate into squabbling
when they disagree. The reason I posted here was because I live in
the Pacific Northwest and there are few people who have experience
with this disease here. The tree in question is a Pacific Dogwood.
It is tall enough and the damaged bits have worked their way high
enough that it would be pretty impossible to prune them all. The
crown looks fine as does the upper branches on the west side. If I
get a cherry picker in here, I could cut away all the damage, but the
tree would look pretty bare. I hate to just throw in the towel
without even trying, but if I put a lot of effort into this with no
result I'll be more attached to it than I am now. It's only been
three months and I'm already having a tough time making the decision.
Argh. There's just something great about buying a house with mature
trees and shrubs surrounding it. That part of me wants to give this
tree a chance. Again, thanks for the comments. I'll probably be back
at some point with more new yard-owner questions.
Best regards to you all,
Samantha

As a fellow PNW'erner, the chances of your pulling this tree out of its
slump are slim to nonexistant. Stands of our native dogwood are being
decimated by this disease and it is near impossible to find one that is
unaffected. I'd seriously review your replacement options - it is only going
to get worse as time progresses.

I'm not sure I read your post correctly - did you say there are few people
here in the PNW experienced with this disease? That is most certainly not
true. Dogwood anthracnose (and Pacific madrone anthracnose) is a significant
portion of the pests and disease curriculum of any hort course of study in
this region and most qualified nursery personnel in the area are very
familiar with the disease as are arborists, extensions offices and the
forest service.

pam - gardengal