Ladybug Arborists

09/01/2026

look for us at booth 33!

airdrieFEST returns Saturday, Sept. 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Downtown Airdrie. Join us for Airdrie’s largest outdoor street festival celebrating everything local!

🅿️Getting to the event: parking is available throughout Downtown Airdrie, with additional spaces at Towerlane Mall and nearby lots. Walking, biking and transit are encouraged. Watch for event signage and road closures along Main Street.

🎵Free entertainment lineup: enjoy live music, performances and demonstrations throughout the day on the Main Street stage and activity zones. All entertainment is free and family‑friendly.

👩‍🎨Free activities all day: visit hands‑on booths, kids’ zones, community group displays, sport demos and local vendor areas. Activities run continuously from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

🛍️Other activities in Downtown Airdrie: explore local shops, grab a bite at nearby restaurants and enjoy the full Downtown experience while you’re here. Many businesses will be offering specials and extended hours during the festival.

Plan your visit at airdriefest.ca

09/01/2026

With Garden Done Right – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉

08/29/2026

The small, round bumps on the oak leaf are galls. The galls are caused by tiny, harmless cynipid gall wasps. The tiny wasp lays an egg on the leaf tissue. The tree reacts by growing a specialized protective structure—the gall—around the developing larva.

The first image looks like small, round, greenish, or pinkish spheres or dots scattered across the tops of leaves. They are completely benign and do not hurt the health of the oak tree. No management, removal, or chemical treatment is necessary. Once the adult insect emerges, the gall will eventually dry up, turn brown and die. if they form on a bud/twig, they will remain attached indefinitely.

Pruning twigs can be an effective way to help stop the cycle when the tee is small and populations are few. Galls on fallen leaves can also host the responsible insect, so collect and destroy fallen leaves near infested trees.

In our area, there are several types of galls that form on oak leaves or twigs. They can be fuzzy on the underside of the leaf (wooly oak gall) or mimic an acorn in clusters on a twig near the base of a leaf (oak bud galls).

While strange looking, galls are an example of commensalism, a relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is neither harmed nor helped. The word “gall” means “bitter”, a reference to the taste of these tannin-filled growths.

08/27/2026

keep this in mind now that seed stock can be collected until freeze up

08/26/2026

great day putting all their training to the test on this spruce removal. we removed the lower limbs and back weight since the tree had a lean. tied a successful bowline to install the tag line. a solid hinge and a little help to start momentum and it was on the ground. it was reallly great to have extra hands to cut up and finish processing this tree. kyle would be proud. I know I am. thanks to ashley Blue Grass Garden Center who sold us this great new chainsaw.

08/24/2026

dear oh dear. more confirmed cases.

08/24/2026

Several years ago, when I was still working in Lethbridge, bronze leaf disease was detected and was the subject of a study at the Lethbridge Agricultural Research Centre. We assisted by reporting sitings. I have found a few cases here in Airdrie this month.

Scientists at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, spearheaded by researcher (and one of my clients) Dr. Lawrence M. Kawchuk, have led critical studies mapping out the molecular profile and spread of bronze leaf disease (BLD). Their work transitioned BLD management from visual guesswork to precise DNA-based science.

Bronze leaf disease is a destructive fungal infection (Apioplagiostoma populi) that targets poplar and aspen trees, most notably Swedish columnar aspens and tower poplars. Leaves turn orange or bronze from the edges inward while veins stay green. Left untreated, it moves through the vascular system and can kill a tree in three to five years.

It is very distinct. Leaves turn orange-brown, reddish-brown, or dark bronze starting from the edge, while the main veins and stem stay bright green in early august. Infected dead leaves cling to the branches through the winter instead of dropping in autumn. Branch Dieback occurs when sections of the tree turn brown under the bark and die branch by branch as the infection moves systemically.

Airborne spores release from infected leaves during wet, warm spring weather (April to June) and travel on the wind.The fungus enters through the leaves and travels internally into the woody branches.

Like many tree diseases, there are no reliable chemical cures for bronze leaf disease; proper pruning and yard sanitation are your only defenses. You would treat removal of these infections like you would fireblight or black knot by pruning well past the last visible discoloured heartwood or infected bark and sanitize tools in between cuts. Disposed by burning or hauling to the dump -do not stock pile or store in your compost area.

to read their study click here. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjps-2021-0104

08/22/2026

Airdrie provides so many opportunities for me to grow in my diagnostic skills. This is my first case of this pest in my 30 year career. I so love being challenged so I can be an even better arborist to my clients.

The unique, raised worm-like structures on your hawthorn leaves are hawthorn leaf galls, specifically caused by microscopic eriophyid gall mites.

The image captures distinct curly, fuzzy, finger-like extensions following the leaf veins. They range from light green to a pale pink or cream colour. These microscopic mites feed on emerging tissue in early spring. Their secretions chemically trigger the tree to grow these hollow "galls". The mites live, feed, and reproduce safely inside these structures throughout the summer.

This damage is purely cosmetic. The green parts of the leaves continue to perform photosynthesis, meaning the tree's long-term health is not at risk.

No immediate chemical intervention is necessary or effective at this late stage in the summer. Pesticides cannot pe*****te the thick, protective walls of the galls once they have already formed.

If you want to minimize their return next season, safely discard heavily infested localized leaf clusters. Rake up and destroy all dropped leaves in autumn to eliminate the sheltered spaces where overwintering adult mites hide.

How can I help your trees today?

08/21/2026