Time to deal with black knot

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

The Town of Strathmore is looking to raise awareness about black knot and how to deal with it during the hibernatory season.

Geoff Person, manager of communications with the Town of Strathmore, said despite the winter season, it’s a perfect opportunity to make a positive impact for the local flora.

“One of the things that we really want people to understand is that even though it’s winter, there’s still stuff that you can do in your garden,” said Person. “Black knot is a perfect example of something that you can take care of and is best to take care of it in the winter. It’s something that oftentimes can hide during the summer.”

Person, though not the local expert, suggested now is a perfect opportunity to look for and deal with black knot, as is easier to find due to a lack of foliage on trees and is less harmful to remove from a hibernating tree.

According to a summary available from the Government of Alberta, black knot is caused by the fungus apiosporina morbosa and is a common disease of plants.

As infections spread rapidly, black knot can ultimately result in the death of an affected plant. 

“The Town has a lot of great expertise in its staff and one of the things that we would like to do more is feature some of that expertise and share with the community,” said Person. “The other side was a very practical one. It feels like everybody’s been cooped up a lot over the past month just because of the real deep freeze that we went through.”

As the outside temperature had been forecasted to warm, Person said the Town wanted to create an opportunity that may spur residents to get outside and enjoy the weather, hense the planning of a winter walk.

A set meeting location for a winter walk has not yet been set, as the parks team is scouting for a site where black knot is present.

“Ideally, what we want is to find some black knot so that we can show people exactly what it looks like, how to prune it and where to prune it,” said Person.

Once a location is planned, the idea is to host a one-hour walk, talking about the fungus as well as other types of tree care and gardening that can be done through the winter.

The walk will be led by Donna McCallum, the Town’s resident horticulture expert. 

For those who are interested, however unable to make it out to the walk, the information will be recorded and posted following the event so that it is available for everyone.

Person added this is the first such walk scheduled by the Town and based on its success, more similar events may be organized. 

The walk, though originally scheduled for Jan. 12, was moved to Jan. 17 at 1 p.m.