First Snow

The first snow of the season fell on December 5. It created -


Feathery clumps on hemlocks,

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Fluffy cotton balls on shrubs.

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Snow hats on posts and lanterns,
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And popcorn on the lawn.

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Hemlock Scale

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Another busy week in the garden – pruning, dead heading and clean up. The new garden is finished. I’ll get back to that story next time.

The needles on our 65 ft. hemlocks have been turning brown and dropping off. I would hate to lose these trees. They provide shade and privacy for our deck. Birds nest and twitter in them all summer. Squirrels leap from branch to branch. They make me feel like I’m sitting in a cool shady forest.

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This isn’t a problem we could handle ourselves so we called a tree care professional. The trees have hemlock scale. The scales can be seen on the back of the needles as tiny brown dots. According to Penn State Department of Entomology, “Scales injure host plants by inserting their threadlike, piercing-sucking mouthparts into needles and withdraw vital nutrients necessary for plant growth from mesophyll cells.”

The trunk was sprayed with Pentra Bark/Merit solution from the base of the trunk to about 6 feet up the bark. The insecticide will go through the tree’s vascular system to kill the scale.

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It seemed like the most environmentally friendly way to save the trees. They have become old friends over the past 35 years. I hope the trees will continue live next to our deck for a long time.

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Hemlock

More information and opinion on Hemlock wooly adelgid from Garden Rant writer Susan Harris. Susan also writes Sustainable Gardening Blog and is co-founder of DC Urban Gardeners.

http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2007/12/god-help-the-ca.html

Hemlock

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand) has become a problem in eastern Pennsylvania forests.

Penn State Department of Entomology fact sheet: "The most obvious sign of a hemlock woolly adelgid infestation is the copious masses of white filaments of wax produced by females. These "cottony" masses normally persist throughout the season and into the following year, even after the insects are dead”. http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/hemlockwoolly.htm

Our 35-year-old hemlocks are about 70 feet tall. (see picture below) That’s too large for me to spray with insecticidal soap. I’m keeping an eye on them. Hopefully, they will last another 35 years.

Here are a two sites that illustrate the difficulty of control.

USDA Forest Service “An Exotic Pest Threat to Eastern Hemlock: An Initiative for Management of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid” http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/hwa/pub/hwa_mgt_plan.pdf

Save Our Hemlocks Action Team http://www.saveourhemlocks.org/controls/my_prop.shtml

Hemlock

Snow on the Hemlocks - 1/19/08

God made snowy days so gardeners could get the housework done.