Have you noticed the caterpillars? They are Eastern Tent Caterpillars. On the plus side the tent caterpillars will help you to identify wild cherry trees. Wild cherry trees are the preferred targets of the tent caterpillars. Initially you will notice the silk webs (yes, silk!). You also will see the tents on crab-apple and apple trees. There are thousands of the caterpillars in the tent; they will emerge and feed on the new buds and leaves. What can you do?
Well, May is the month of highest activity. Best management practices are to prune out the egg masses in the fall or early spring and destroy them. All you need do, is to pull the egg masses off of the tree and drop the entire mass into a bucket of soapy water. Unfortunately, the best predator for the egg masses, birds, cannot penetrate the mass. Do this in the evenings during the month of April. If the tents cannot be reached, give us a call.
If the situation with the tent caterpillars is beyond your control, contact us, we will be happy to take appropriate action with the correct product for the job.
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