It’s a Good Day for Tree Pests to Die!
October 20, 2011
4 Comments
We know that Hurricane Irene has passed by and we’ve cleaned up the storm damage , but that doesn’t mean it’s time to rest easy about problems that may harm the trees and ornamentals in your landscape. Right now is the time to apply a dormant horticultural oil treatment (a reduced-risk, “organic” pesticide) to knock down the population of spider mites, eriophyid mites, aphids, lacebugs, adelgids, psyllids, scale insects and a myriad of other insects that attack your trees. Fox Tree Services also applies a dormant copper-based fungicide starting around now to help protect against plant diseases such as anthracnose, scab and leaf spot. In the photo above you can see an example of white prunicola scale (Pseudaulacaspis prunicola) which has been attacking privet on the east end of Long Island for the past few years. We have found dormant oil treatments at this time to be effective in reducing the 3d generation of this insect.
Debora Kins
Thanks for the heads up about the white prunicola scale! My privet got really damaged this year and it also went after my lilacs and cherry trees. I used another tree company but they treated in JUly and when I called Cornell Coop they said treat in JUne and late August. I think it’s great that you use hort oil because I’ve got a lot of animals at my house and don’t really like pesticides!
Luis Gonzalez
I take care of a property near the village and beach club in Southampton and the privet has this all over it. Didn’t know exactly what it was. The lawn care guy said not to worry about it, but it’s defoliated a couple of areas. Thanks for letting me know, I’m going to get it treated now and next year. Will the privet recover it’s foliage?
willie
You might have to prune out any really dead areas, but privet grows back so rapidly that by next June you won’t even notice. You have to get contriol of the insect, however. It’s a piercing-sucking insectt and can actually do a lot of long term damage. Best bet is to do a dormant oil treatment now to weaken the scales before winter, then hit them in April and late June when the first 2 generations of crawlers emerge. Mike Raupp of University of Maryland found that we have a 3d generation on east end of Long Island which has to be treated in late August – early September. This is the one everyone misses and causes all the problems. You should make sure this 3d treatment gets done.