Time to “Join the Band”

Autumn is no time to “Fall” off the Tree Bandwagon

Autumn is an important time for proper tree care, and one rapidly approaching deadlines is the time to install tree bands to ward off canker worms. After the first series of cold nights, reaching at or below freezing, adult fall canker worms emerge from pupas in the ground. Females are wingless and climb up trees and any other vertical object, searching for the highest point to mate and lay eggs.

One female can lay up to 100 eggs, so affixing bands to the trunks of trees in the fall is vitally important to tree health and maintenance. The bands capture the wingless female moth during her ascent to the top of the tree. Bands should be in place soon, and certainly by mid-November.

If left unprotected, many trees can be subjected to a canker worm invasion. These pesky creatures will establish themselves and then consume precious new spring foliage months from now.

You can order tree bands and learn more about the treatment of canker worms by visiting heartwoodtree.com