Now that the fall season is officially here, many homeowners will start enjoying the beautiful colors of the leaves changing.
They will also -not- enjoy the extra work of raking all of those leaves, but that is a small price to pay to have our valley light up with fall colors.
This is also the time of year to be thinking about how your trees will fare during the winter weather. The winter season can be extremely damaging to trees because of the cold temperatures.
It is best to use the fall months to make sure that your trees are in good shape and ready for the winter. Having a dying or decaying tree fall on your home during the winter is a serious disaster that all homeowners want to avoid.
Unfortunately, there are many fall insects that can be quite damaging to your trees. It is important to know the signs of these insects so that you can get treatment for the infestation and proper care for your tree.
Here are a few things to know about fall season tree pests:
- If your trees look like they are covered in spider webs and the leaves started falling from the tree several weeks ago, this is a clear sign of a webworm infestation. These insects will cover your tree with their web silk and then eat the leaves from inside of the web. The webs must be removed from the tree and the tree treated with insecticide.
- If you have evergreen trees with webs in them, you likely have a bagworm infestation. These worms hide inside of their silk bags and eat the needles and leaves of your trees. All silk bags must be removed from the tree and insecticide sprayed to keep the worms away
- If the leaves on your tree are browning and the edges are crunchy – you may have oak mites. If you notice itchy red spots on your skin … then you definitely have oak mites
- If you have conifer trees with needles that are covered in yellow spots – you probably have an infestation of spruce spider mites. These insects love the sap that is produced by these trees
Keep your home and your trees protected from infestation this winter by paying close attention during the next couple of weeks of fall. Going into the winter, when the weather can be harsh and sick trees can get worse, it is important to know which of your trees are having a problem and get things addressed.
