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Here you will find some of the most important tree and shrub problems that are of concern or are currently being experienced in our area.
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Lookout for the most voracious feeders of the plant kingdom, Bagworm! Their favorite food is Arborvitae, Juniper and Spruce, but they will try to feed on just about anything (including your siding)! Bagworms look like small pinecones which dangle from branches. They can defoliate an evergreen very quickly and leave behind 500-1000 eggs for next season. Two-thirds of the bags contain female Bagworms, so you can imagine how quickly the populations can explode on your plants. They are best controlled when the bags are small, so call for help as soon as you see evidence of their presence!
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Emerald Ash Borer is a current concern in southeastern Pennsylvania. The insect has migrated from the midwest, where it devastated over 20 million Ash trees in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. It was found in western Pennsylvania last summer and again this June in a county adjacent to the original PA infestation. Its spread eastward is almost inevitable. You should be concerned if you have one or more large, specimen Ash trees on your property. There is a preventative treatment which has shown great promise in protecting trees as long as it is done at the proper time and probably yearly. It is hard to estimate when Emerald Ash Borer will show up in our area but you should educate yourself about this pest and its symptoms. Detailed information can be found on www.emeraldashborers.com.
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Hollies may need treatment now! Many Hollies have been affected recently with Scale (a family of insects) including Cottony Taxus and Cottony Camelia. Yellowing and dropping leaves during the Spring are common symptoms of these pests. Imidicloprid (a systemic, soil injectable insecticide), applied in the Spring, will control these Holly pests adequately for the entire season. Black "soot" on the leaves of your Hollies is also an indicator of a Scale infestation. The Scale insects secrete a substance called "honeydew" which is clear and sticky. After some time, the sticky honeydew becomes covered with the black "sooty mold".
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Be on the lookout for Mimosa Webworm on your Honeylocusts! This insect feeds on the leaflets of Honeylocust and forms "nests" of webbing and browned leaf material. They can quickly turn your beautiful shade-providing, light-filtering graceful Honeylocust into a brown, web-strewn mess (not to mention the caterpillars dangling and crawling about)! This insect has two generations during the summer and therefore requires two foliar applications of the appropriate insecticide to get it under control. For "environmentally sensitive" areas, trunk injection is also a viable option.
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Bacterial Leaf Scorch (BLS) is probably the single most important shade tree disease currently facing many areas of the country today. Some have stated that it may become the major shade tree disease for the new millennium. The disease is caused by a bacterial pathogen named Xylella fastidiosa. The primary hosts include the Red Oak and Pin Oak. Other Oaks that are confirmed hosts include Scarlet, Shingle, Bur, Laurel and Water. The chronic effects on infected tree crowns are similar to that seen from severe soil compaction. The slow and gradual decline of an infected tree is caused by the limited uptake of water to the crown. During early stages of infection, brown leaf scorched symptoms typically affect a small area of the crown (e.g. a single branch). Usually the scorch symptoms initially show up late in the season (late July or August). As the years go by, other areas of the crown are often progressively affected. Often it takes only 3-5 years for the entire crown to show symptoms. It typically requires about 10 years for a diseased tree to lose most of its aesthetic value. Early defoliation in September on affected Oaks is another good indication for the possible presence of this disease, since Oaks typically hold their leaves well into November/December. During the early years of infection this symptom does not necessarily indicate the branches are dead, since they often leaf-out again the following year.
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