REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Grove Park is temporarily closed as city officials have started work to remove five red oak trees showing signs of bacterial leaf scorch, a disease spread by insects.
WBOC first reported the announcement from the City of Rehoboth Beach on August 19.
Officials say an inspection took place last Monday and determined the tree removal was necessary. Without the use of insecticides, insects carrying bacterial leaf scorch could potentially spread the disease to oak, maple and sycamore trees throughout the city.
“The only way that you can stop the spread is through treatments on the surrounding trees and to remove the trees that are already infected,” Michael Lilly, the City of Rehoboth Beach Arborist, said.
Bacterial leaf scorch has no cure once a tree becomes infected. Trees typically have three to eight years before they die after becoming infected.
The park is also typically home to the Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market. The market's founder said there was no hesitation in relocating after learning about the safety concerns.
“I immediately canceled the market because there was a safety concern,” Pat Coluzzi said. “And I’m responsible for all the people, vendors and people walking through. So I canceled the market and I called the city and I said, my God, you need to close the park.”
Some people say replacing the removed trees will be important to preserve the area.
“Just look at the trees around here and these ones are old growth,” Marcel Mallory said. “These were here a long time. So it need to do something to replace it with something.”
The city says Grove Park can safely reopen to foot traffic once the five infected trees are removed and insecticide treatments are completed.
