Not all plant species are affected by the crown gall bacteria. Before making a plant choice, do a bit of research to determine if any of your plant preferences are susceptible. Wisteria, unfortunately, is one of those.

I don't think that you should introduce your diseased plant to the general compost pile, which I presume will be available for use by residents. Bacterial propagules are pretty resistant to the relatively low temperatures of composting. Burning is recommended.

Be sure to sterilize your tools after removing the wisteria, and know that the disease can be moved around readily by splashing water, human and animal activities, etc.

Burning of plant tissue was once recommended as a means of disposal before studies showed the large amounts of pollutants released during the combustion process, so no one should be recommending burning any plant material today. Most all plant disease organisms can be destroyed by composting, in a hot compost pile, one that gets to and holds 135 plus degrees for several hours. Otherwise most places that prohibit plant residue in the "normal" trash do permit diseased plants, if they are double bagged which presumably prevents the escape of the disease pathogens.

You are right about being concerned about spreading this through the landfill. As for composting I would not take the chance that all of the bacterium will be properly exposed to the heat needed to kill it. Some things can survive even the heat of a compost pile and I can't remember if Crown Gall is one of them. Burn them, and if you feel guilty about the miniscule amount of pollution pick up a couple of cans from the road and recycle them. As you know by your post Crown Gall cannot be treated, but new plants can be protected with Galltrol, they have to be bare root though, and it is not easy to use. So just planting resistant plants would be a better choice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Galltrol

Many people are totally unaware of how much pollution is caused by burning garden waste, but it can be significant because of incomplete combustion.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pollutants from open burning

Kimmsr, I read the article and it specifically talks about trash burning. The paragraph that talks about wood burning actually states that clean dry wood produces little pollution. One should never burn trash, but clean wood produces less pollution then burning oil. The particulate matter in wood smoke is heavy and quickly settles to the ground. Wood also produces the same pollutants rotting as it does burning. True in some circumstances wood burning becomes a problem when air is trapped, as in Denver. Burning oil produces lighter chemicals that escape the trap and become someone else,s problem. Burning a couple of Wisteria in a hot fire will contribute little to pollution, so pick up four cans that should make up for it.

The people that live some 500 feet northeast of me burn wood and when the wind is from that direction I can smell their fire and I get an asthma attack, just as I do when the people that live about 500 feet southwest have a campfire in their yard and the wind from that direction brings the smoke they produce toward me. Wood fires produce pollutants of all kinds, but burning a diseased plant would be burning trash.

Well thanks everyone. I'm thinking we will for sure dispose of the actual galls wraped in plastic and put in the landfill garbage can but does anyone know about the top part of the plant? Seems like this bacteria can be found throughout the plant but I'm not sure about that. I guess one good thing about this problem is that the plant hasn't really grown all that large and we could, over time, put it all in the landfill. I really want to err on the safe side in this case and not take any risk of spreading this.

Thanks again - love this forum!!

Leslie

Yes the galls are the visible part but the disease is throughout the plant.