How do you get rid of Mistletoe?

We just moved into our new house in Tucson, AZ and I noticed that my Palo Verde trees have mistletoe hanging off of them. They are really well established trees and I would like to keep them if possible. If I can get rid of the mistletoe, how do I prevent reinfection?

Right now I am just knocking the mistletoe off. I can't just cut it off the branches because it is actually on the trunk of one of them.

What makes it even worse is that even if I get rid of the mistletoe on my trees, there are other trees on public/private land right next to our yard that are infected.

I know that it is the berries that are distributed by the wind and birds, so is there a way to help my poor trees or should I just give up and cut them down?

TIA
Joanna

As someone who lives in a climate where mistletoe does not grow, and we pay premium prices for a small twig of it for the Holidays... why is it a problem? I know it is a parasite, but is it harmful or unattractive? Just wondering!

Must be constantly cut from the trees or it will eventually kill your trees, as the mistletoe sucks the moisture from the trees.
Here is a link that may help you more and answer some of your questions.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7437.html

The sad thing is that it is on the trunks all over...and I do mean all over.

Maybe I should sell it during the winter lol, Joanna's Mistletoe Emporium. Anyone interested?

I managed to get most of it off my trees but there is more where that came from right next door.
Joanna

I have made a couple of calls and sent a couple of emails,and this is what I was told.

"Mistletoe is a plant parasite that primarily attaches to limbs and trunks of low quality and/or stressed trees, such as Arizona ash, hackberry, bois d’ arc, locust, boxelder, and weak elms and ashes. Remove by cutting infected limbs off the tree. If that can’t be done, notch into the limb to remove the rooting structure of the mistletoe and paint with black pruning paint to prevent resprout. There are no magic chemical or organic sprays. Keeping the soil and trees healthy is the best preventative. "

Sorry I couldn't have been of more help.

Joanna, I was thinking you could probably sell it to florists or someone, especially here in the east.

thanks everyone for your help...i'll make the decision next year if i'm going to tear down the trees or not...first i'll try amending the soil and such. I read that mistletoe is tree-specific so the stuff on my palos wont spread to other trees. I checked the other trees to make sure and i don't see any of it on them. I'm not sure how long this has been going on with those trees since it is a new house.

Lol, pardancanda, i was kidding before, but now i just might. Always trying to find the silver lining...Joanna

We have mistletoe all over down here in FL, too. I don't have any in my trees, but it is in the neighborhood. You can see it when the trees go dormant and drop their leaves.

Selling it isn't such a bad idea. I remember selling the stuff for a fundraiser once for my college's recycling club in WI. We got big branches of the stuff and cut it into smaller pieces, tied them up with a little red ribbon and sold them for $3 per bunch. I would recommend using a pruning shears to cut it, not scissors--the voice of experience...