Heritage Park to close Friday morning for tree spraying

Olympia’s Heritage Park will be partially closed Friday while 34 London plane trees are sprayed with fungicide.

This is the second time the trees will be sprayed. The first treatment took place April 8.

According to the state Department of Enterprise Services, the trees are suffering from sycamore anthracnose, a fungal disease that can cause premature leaf drop, cankers and the sudden death of the tree’s new shoot growth. The Washington State University extension service reported that the disease likely won’t kill the trees, which were planted in 2005.

The treatment is scheduled to start at 5 a.m. and finish about 7, but the park will not be fully reopened until the fungicide has dried completely, which could take several hours.

However, the treatment is weather dependent and won’t be done if conditions are wet, or if winds exceed 5 mph. Forecasters say there’s a chance of rain Friday morning.

The parking lot at Fifth Avenue and Simmons Street also will be closed during the treatment. The park areas off limits to public use will be indicated by barriers, yellow caution tape and signage. All areas sprayed will be flagged with treatment signs.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Heritage Park to close Friday morning for tree spraying."