Debate: Did that $200 Dutch Elm treatment save my tree or just waste my money?

Honestly, I've been going back and forth on this for months now. Last spring I noticed some wilting on my big elm out front and panicked, so I dropped $200 on a fungicide injection treatment from a local arborist. He swore it was the only way to stop Dutch Elm disease from spreading if caught early. But then my neighbor, who's been here 40 years, said I should have just cut it down and planted a resistant variety for half the cost. Now it's six months later, the tree looks fine so far, but I keep wondering if I just got lucky or if that treatment actually did something. Has anyone else gambled on saving an old tree instead of yanking it out? Did you feel it was worth the cost in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.keith3d ago

Had a buddy do the same thing and his tree died anyway two years later.

drew_chen2d ago

Exactly what happened to me too... tree looked fine for a good year and then just gave up. Seems like they sometimes just take a while to show the damage.