What The City Is Doing
- City crews will continue the ongoing monitoring and pruning program for susceptible trees and monitor areas impacted by black knot
- Currently, the City is completing an annual focus on a specific quadrant of the city; this year, the northwest quadrant is being reviewed and pruned for black knot
- During the fall/winter of 2021/2022, crews will be focused on the southeast quadrant
- To ensure the completion of this operational work plan, the focus will remain on these specific quadrants
- Only City crews are authorized to prune infected trees on public property
- Pruning for black knot takes place between late fall to early spring when the tree and spores are dormant and when the knots are easier to see
- The pruning cycle for Prunus spp. is approximately every 4 years
- Pruning tools and equipment are sterilized between each cut using an approved environmentally-friendly solution which prevents the spread of the disease
- Diseased wood chips and logs are disposed of at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre or the Northland Recycling Centre, this ensures that the wood chips are not reused for tree planting or in shrub beds
While black knot is managed and pruned from park, boulevard, and ornamental trees on City property, our natural areas are not managed for this disease as the overall risk to species affected by black knot is low. Black knot will only be managed if the tree presents a safety risk to a target zone.