ISA Certified Arborist · San Rafael, CA

Fire Blight Treatment
in San Rafael & Marin County

Professional pruning and disease management for pear, apple, hawthorn, and pyracantha trees. Free estimates. Same-day response.

(415) 320-6025

Professional Fire Blight Management – Done Right the First Time

Fire blight spreads fast, and the window to act is narrow. When you call Green's Tree Service, Tyler Green comes out personally, examines the tree, and gives you a straight answer based on what he actually finds: prune it back, or take it out.

Every cut is made at the correct branch union – not a random point down the branch – and our tools are sterilized between every cut to stop the bacteria from hitching a ride to the next branch. All infected wood is bagged and removed from the property, never left in a compost pile or yard waste bin.

We work to ANSI A300 pruning standards and Tyler signs off on every job personally. If the tree is too far gone to save, he'll tell you that too.

Not sure if it's fire blight? Read Tyler's field guide to symptoms and identification

Apple tree severely affected by fire blight with blackened branches visible throughout the canopy — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA

When to Call an Arborist for Fire Blight

Branches look scorched but the dead leaves won't drop – this is the classic shoot blight pattern and the sooner it's cut out, the better.

Your tree had fire blight last year – annual assessment before bloom season catches cankers while they're still dormant and containable.

You pruned infected branches yourself, but the blight keeps returning – improper cuts or unsterilized tools are the most common reason for repeat infections.

A neighbor's pear or apple tree is visibly infected – fire blight spreads between adjacent trees, especially in spring when bees are active.

You can see amber ooze or dark sunken cankers forming on the trunk or main branches – infection has reached the scaffold wood and needs urgent professional attention.

How We Treat Fire Blight

1

On-site assessment
Tyler walks the property, examines the affected tree, and checks neighboring trees. He'll give you a direct recommendation: targeted pruning, full removal, or a wait-and-watch plan depending on how far the infection has progressed and the time of year.
2

Precision pruning with sterilized tools
Each cut is made where the infected branch meets the next clean branch union – not partway down the wood. Tools are disinfected between every single cut. During active spring infection, we remove infected wood immediately; when the infection has stabilized, we often wait for summer or dormancy when the margins are clear.
3

Proper removal and disposal
All cut infected material is bagged and hauled off the property. It doesn't go in your compost or green-waste bin – bacteria in the clippings can reinfect through soil or water splash during the next rain.

Apple tree with fire blight infection, with branches marked for removal by an arborist — Marked branches indicating the extent of infection before pruning. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA

Trees We Treat

Fire blight affects all members of the rose family (Rosaceae). Common in Marin County residential landscapes:

Pear

Pyrus communis

Apple

Malus domestica

Hawthorn

Crataegus monogyna

Pyracantha

Firethorn

Quince

Cydonia oblonga

Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster horizontalis

Serving All of Marin County

Based in Terra Linda, San Rafael – close to where fire blight is most active this season.

San Rafael Terra Linda Novato Corte Madera Larkspur San Anselmo Fairfax Marinwood Lucas Valley Santa Venetia Peacock Gap Kentfield

Fire blight shepherd's crook symptom on pear tree

Not sure what you're looking at?

Tyler's field guide covers how to identify fire blight on your tree – the shepherd's crook, the bacterial ooze, why it spreads so fast in Marin County's climate, and what the early signs look like before a branch is fully lost.

Read Tyler's field guide: Fire Blight Identification for San Rafael Trees

Tree species photos via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA): Pyrus communis blossom (O. Pichard); Apple blossom; Pyracantha coccinea (B. Navez); Cydonia oblonga / quince; Cotoneaster horizontalis (K. Zyga). Fire blight disease photos: Apple tree with fire blight; branches marked for removal.

Fire Blight Treatmentin San Rafael & Marin County