Jenny, you didn't mention what kinds of trees you have, but I had the same
problem with my sycamore and dogwood during some years. When my ex-wife and
I were young and gullible, we paid some "expert" to stick these little
plastic injection things into the trees. I don't recall what time of year it
was. The trees looked better the following year, but we hadn't had a very
wet spring or summer, either, so there's no reliable way to say what the
improvement was due to. As we read more and became better gardeners, we
began to notice trends. In years when the trees had ugly leaves, we also had
more problems with our cucumbers, for instance. But, when we looked at
pictures of the property taken when we first moved in, it was obvious that
the trees had done fine.

By the way, the tree expert predicted that the dogwood would be dead within
a couple of years if it wasn't medicated. A little reading about dogwood
habitat indicated that the original homeowner had planted the tree in a dumb
place: Two feet from a blacktop driveway. Nice and hot - not where a dogwood
belongs. We decided THAT was the tree's biggest problem, not the occasional
fungus attacks. Matter of fact, when we made it a habit to soak the ground
around the tree during hot weather, it looked much better. It's still alive.

I think you have to look at the overall health of the trees, and sort of
take an average. I'd also contact a local cooperative extension and see if
they have any thoughts on what's going on in your area. While it *is*
possible there's something going around that can be treated, you want to
find out if it's worthwhile first, preferably from someone who doesn't have
anything to sell. And, of course, you never want to spray poison around your
property unless there's no other choice.


"Jenny" wrote in message
...
Doug,

I live in Western MA, Zone 5. The house was only built about a year and a
half ago.

-- You left out some information, like where (in the world) you live and
how
long you've lived on that particular property. If you have access to
that
info, it would add greatly to the ability to provide answers.