HellT wrote:

Viruses, fungii and other nasty pathogens to trees are found on
leaves and these tree diseases will return year after year if
you don't remove the leaves in the fall.

Any more wise cracks from you bone-heads?

Yeah. You either don't get it, or you're just being stubborn.

I get it, and for you it goes right over your head.

Fungal leaf infections are not routine,

A general statement that you simply can't make here.

are almost always not a serious problem,

And I even said that they won't kill a tree.

and almost never persist into successive years.

That's debatable. Certainly depends on geography and climate.

Fungi are part of nature. Like everything else, they have their
cycles. You deal with them when and if they become enough of a
problem to require some maintenance. For the average homeowner,
that will be seldom to never.

The average home owner is busy cutting down their trees. I see it
happening far too often, for trivial reasons.

I was in the trade for years. We rarely advised people to treat
for fungal issues,

I'm not talking about treating for fungus after the fact.

And for every 1 owner that actually picks up the phone and calls you
about leaf spot, there are 99 others that simply don't pay attention,
don't notice or don't care. So don't think that the number of calls you
get is indicative of the true prevelance of fungal problems.

_because_ it is almost always an occasional and minor
issue. Frankly, in those cases where it is a major issue,
_effective_ control is difficult and/or expensive.

Examples:
- oak wilt

Spores not spread via airborne winds. Leaf raking is not an issue with
the spread of oak wilt.

dutch elm disease

Spores spread by bark beetles. Leaf raking is not an issue with the
spread of dutch elm disease.

verticillium wilt

Verticillium is spread mainly in soil via root-to-root contact, but
several versions can overwinter in live vegetation or plant debris, and
clearing this debris can reduce the spread to other plants. It can
survive cold weather and even sub-freezing conditions.

and cytospora canker.

A fungal bark infection, usually in "stoney" fruit trees. Leaves and
leaf debris are not vectors for spreading.

You got these, you got yourself a problem ...
Raking leaves won't make a tinker's damn of difference
with these, either.

The accuracy of your statement is debatible when it comes to
verticillium wilt.

But yes, you did list fungal diseases that don't involve leaf litter as
a spreading or exposure mechanism.

And I did give you a longer list in my previous post of fungal diseases
that ARE combated by leaf raking and removal.

And the best time to combat such fungal diseases is before they become a
problem, which means you don't wait until the year you have the fungal
disease to start raking and removing the visibly-infected leaves in the
fall. You rake the leaves all the time.