Bagworms are Taking Over My Tree!

This comes from Marilyn, who says, “I’m noticing a couple areas of this growth or an area of cloudy looking parts on my tree. Do I need to do something about it? I don’t want it to kill my tree.”

There’s a picture included here, and those look like bagworms. Usually you don’t really notice them, until you get up on the tree and it almost looks like your tree is moving a little bit.They take those leaves, and they’re usually evergreens, and they kind of make like a little bag, and you see that move and it’s creepy. 

That is a webworm, a fall webworm which in fact I did see in my redbud just this morning. You usually start seeing it now, when it gets later a lot of times the best thing to do is to cut that out and to get rid of it that way. Right now trim off the branch and get rid of it, because they’re making a web in there and cocooning. 

In the springtime you usually want to do a systemic three-in-one, like a drench. Usually like mid-season, it depends on which one you use, but like all seasons one you could do that. But you want to do it beforehand like in the spring and that stops it before they hatch and everything, but right now you can’t really do too much, but just get rid of that branch. They’re not gonna kill the tree, they’re just ugly and defoliate it. They’re just annoying. Marilyn, I hope that helps. Next year, I would just put a drench on the tree and that’ll take care.

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