Oleanders Fall Victim to Fatal Insect Damage

The new city of Laguna Woods should consider changing its name to Laguna Stumps.

More than 1,000 white flowering oleander trees and an additional 2,000 oleander shrubs, which for more than 30 years have been a fixture in the gated retirement community formerly known as Leisure World, have been struck by disease and will have to be cut down.

But Laguna Woods is not alone. Throughout Southern California and across an area extending to east Texas, a half-inch-long bug called the glassy-winged sharpshooter has been injecting a terminal disease into the trees and shrubs that are popular because they need so little care. The insect is partial to oleanders.

There is no cure for oleander scorch. The problem in Laguna Woods--where city officials expect to spend about $1 million cutting down the diseased trees and shrubs--pales in comparison to what it could cost the state, homeowners and developers to replace the dying plants. Caltrans has estimated that it would cost $52 million to replace the oleanders that line 2,000 miles of freeway.