I noticed last night that the beautiful Texas Ash in my front yard has, on an upper limb, stuff that looks like a web woven widely around the limb. Do any of you know what that might be? I have two Texas Ash in the back yard and don't detect any of this on them.
Posie
Web-Like Stuff on Texas Ash Limb
Maybe web worms.
http://www.gardengrapevine.com/WebWorms.html
Could it be your first batch of webworms?
You are not far fr my folks & my mother said they were so bad in FtW last yr, she didn't want to go outside b/c they were litterly falling out of her trees on her!
:~(
They were HORRIBLE. It wasn't just THEM falling out of the trees--it was also what they dropped out of the trees. I have two large ash trees that really suffered, and my back yard was unusable. :(
At my house they went for the Possum Haw, they defoliated it twice last year but it survived.
They went for my Possum Haw, too. :-( Luckily they didn't defoliate it, but probably only because I was out there every night destroying their web. They are determined little buggers.
Carla
I cannot stand web worms!! Thankfully, they attack my neighbor's trash trees and leave mine alone. Last year, though, they did get one of my savannah holly trees. Unfortunately, it survived. I'm trying to get rid of that thing because it's planted too close to the house. LOL
Thanks for the link, AJN. I AM HORRIFIED BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. Is there anything that can be done to stop the destruction? I saw it on another branch when I got home this afternoon.
Posie, can you get a pole up to the webs, or are they too high? If you can reach them, there are several things you can do.
Some people use kerosene and burn them, but that's a bit dangerous. Others just rip the webs apart and let the birds do the rest. I wouldn't rely on that because last year, as they fell out of the webs, they stripped some of my perennials down below. All recovered, but those with a fall season were really ruined. This year I plan to inoculate whatever webs I can reach with Bt.
It's important to do whatever you can. I have ignored them in past years, but in 2007 they were really bad. Something about all the years of drought followed by a year of heavy rain. The problem is, they can have more than one breeding season per year. If you don't treat them now, they'll be back with a vengeance in a couple of months. Like I said, their droppings made my entire back yard unusable last July.
I'm a little curious about your ash trees being invaded already. Are yours leafed out already? Mine are just getting their leaves this week.
My trees had fully leafed out and just beautiful. I am hoping this storm with the hail tonight has torn the webs apart. They look pretty high, but maybe I can reach them with a rake, or I might go out and buy the longest bamboo stake I can find to try to tear them apart.
There ya go. Good luck!
Are these webs around leaves? If they are only on the branch or trunk - just the wood part - you have bark lice - beneficial insects. If they are wrapped around leaves, you have web worms, who will eat the foliage. Breaking the web open will allow wasps to go in and destroy them to feet their babies.
If you have bark lice, just leave them alone, and they will eventually disappear.