If you own a home in South Florida, you will likely have a lawn or backyard that features many trees and other forms of greenery. Like any other city in the United States, changes in seasons could change how your trees look. One of the changes in seasons could invite the proliferation of forms of life like caterpillars or bugs that could damage your trees or cause them to look less beautiful than they used to. One thing that you may notice on your trees is a higher amount of spiderwebs covering your trees. So, why are there so many spiderwebs in the trees? Zimmerman Tree Service explores more in the following article.
How to Get Rid of Webs in Trees
The good news about removing webs from trees is the fact that they rarely present significant damage to the tree. The first step in removing spiderwebs is to determine if they are actually spiderwebs or if another life form is causing the appearance of spiderwebs. In fact, web-covered trees are more likely to appear because of worms or caterpillars. To get rid of the webs in trees, you will need to see what is causing the appearance of the webs. The life forms that are causing the webs on your trees will determine your approach going forward. If they are caused by spiders, you could just use some pesticides that kill spiders and later manually remove the spider webs from the tree. There are some preventative measures that homeowners could take to ensure that their trees do not get overtaken by webs. This includes removing any eggs that you find on the trees or contacting an experienced West Palm Beach arborist like Zimmerman Tree Service.
How to Get Rid of Webworms
Webworms are closely related to caterpillars and could be the cause of some of the webs that are appearing on your trees. While they are similar to caterpillars, there are some key differences between these two animals. The principal difference between these two is the kind of trees that they call home. Webworms tend to go for trees like oak, pecan, cherry, walnut, and hickory trees. While they could be seen on other trees, these are the most common ones that they call home. On the other hand, Eastern caterpillars are usually more focused on trees like apple, ash, and maple trees. The good news is that these trees are not usually found in many homes in South Florida. However, it should be noted that Easter tent caterpillars usually come out in the Spring and make much thicker and more complex webs. Webworms come out in the fall and spin much thinner webs.
How to Get Rid of Walnut Caterpillars
Another common pest that could be found on trees or greenery is walnut caterpillars. To help you get rid of walnut caterpillars, our Boca Raton, FL tree removal professionals have compiled the following guidelines.
- Mix insecticidal soap and water into a bucket, The optimal ratio is 3 quarts of insecticidal soap and one quart of water into a bucket.
- Walk around your walnut tree or other trees that are infected with the pest and remove any visible caterpillar that you notice into the bucket that you have mixed the solution into. Go around every tree and make sure to use a ladder to reach limbs that are harder to reach.
- If you notice any maggots or larvae, make sure to drop these into the bucket as well.
- After going around your tree, make sure to hang a bug zapper onto your tree so that caterpillars or other animals do not get into your tree.
These same steps could be followed for any other kind of bug or caterpillar that you find your trees infected with.
More About Zimmerman Tree Service
Why are there so many spider webs in the trees? The short answer is that visible and thick spider webs are not usually caused by spiders, but rather by other bugs like caterpillars. Zimmerman Tree Service is a dedicated South Florida tree trimming service that has helped homeowners and businesses with their tree-keeping and gardening needs for years. If you are one of those that need professional help with your tree keeping, do not hesitate to contact our Palm Beach, FL tree trimming professionals today if you notice more cobwebs in trees than usual.