Trees died

Geo-TH,In · Jul 16, 2016

20 year old trees just up and died about a week ago. Like someone sprayed roundup on thrm.

One completely brown, two had a little green close to house

Never seen anything like this have you?

pete black · Jul 16, 2016

Bag worms hatched out and eat the foliage. May have come back out.

notjustair · Jul 16, 2016

Yup. You need to spray with a systemic like Lorsban or Pyrethrin.

Tom in TN · Jul 16, 2016

George,

I live way out in the country in southern Middle Tennessee. I had three cherry trees out behind my house. All of them were loaded with cherries in the spring time about 4 or 5 years ago. One day I came out of my house and smelled chemicals (herbicide?) in the air. There's no one even close to where I live so I'm convinced it didn't drift from anyone else's farm. However, I have a gas line right of way going through my farm.

I don't know it for a fact, but I suspect the gas line maintainers sprayed herbicide from a helicopter that drifted to my trees. All three of them died within a few weeks after I smelled the chemicals. What a shocking and disappointing loss that was. Based on the posts that you put on this board, I have confidence that you will replant and recover from your loss, but it's still a loss.

Tom in TN

caseman46 · Jul 16, 2016

I agree with Pete Black. Your shrubs have many pods that look like small pine cones. They are actually cacoons of bagworms. Cut one open and you will find a worm about an inch long. As these worms grow, they move around and carry their cacoon with for protection. Because of this, birds and other predators can't get to them. You can spray an insecticide early summer when worms are about quarter-inch long. You had a few last year that over-wintered and layer all the eggs to hatch into this year's lethal crop of worms. The best prevention is to constantly observe your trees and shrubs and pull them off and prevent next year's crop of young worms. I've had plenty of them over the years. Read more on Google.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 16, 2016

I'll look closer for bag worms. They can't come back, I removed the 3 trees. Plan to burn them when it snows. Don't have any more evergreens close by.

In a way, I'm glad they are gone, no more trimming them.

4520BW · Jul 16, 2016

If they have bag worms on them might be a good idea to burn them now if you can to kill the worms. Dad always made me pull them off the trees and put them in a sack and burn.

pete black · Jul 16, 2016

Lookup the life cycle of the bag worm as there is some point which they are on the tree without the bag. It is at this point you can spray the tree to kill them. My understanding is once in the bag spraying is in affective.

mj · Jul 16, 2016

(quoted from post at 15:18:15 07/16/16) Lookup the life cycle of the bag worm as there is some point which they are on the tree without the bag. It is at this point you can spray the tree to kill them. My understanding is once in the bag spraying is in affective.

I know that fire will kill 'em - If you can reach the bag a weed-burner works good. If they are too high for the burner hook an old t-shirt or pair of skivvies soaked in diesel to end of a long pole and light'er up. 8)

GordoSD · Jul 16, 2016

I lost my best cherry tree to a farmer 3/8 of a mile south. I didn't conned the dots until my neighbor to the south told me ALL her trees suddenly died, I had a heart to heart with the AG sprayer guy and he ponied up for the trees plus lost .

1948CaseVAI · Jul 17, 2016

I saw several trees in a line die when I was a kid and it turned out a buried natural gas line was leaking under them.

Trees died

Geo-TH,In

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pete black

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notjustair

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Tom in TN

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caseman46

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Geo-TH,In

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4520BW

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