Beech Leaf Disease (BLD)

Signs & symptoms

• Dark green stripes or bands between the leaf veins, best seen looking up at backlit leaves
• Leaves turning leathery, crinkled, and cupped
• Thinning canopy and fewer leaves over successive years
• Young beech trees declining and dying within a few years; older ones over longer

Beech leaf disease is relatively new to our area but moving quickly, and it's hitting both native woodland beech and the ornamental beeches people prize in their yards. The striped, banded leaves are the giveaway — once you've seen it you can't miss it.

It's still being studied and there's no reliable cure, so for now it's about monitoring the tree's decline and dealing with safety as limbs weaken. A prized beech in the yard is worth watching closely.

What to do

• Look up at the leaves in spring — the dark bands between veins are the early sign
• Keep beech trees as healthy as possible and monitor them year to year
• As a declining beech loses limbs, have the hazards removed before they fall

This is general guidance from three decades of tree work across the Philadelphia area — not a formal diagnosis. When it matters, we'll come look at the actual tree and give you a straight answer, free.

Trees we see this on

Other tree problems