Jenny wrote:

Jean wrote:


Egad! There are little worms, green and otherwise, making tatters of
my tree leaves--esp. those of the maples. Will the trees survive
this onslaught? Does anything, preferably nontoxic, stop them? If
something like dormant oil spray would work, I could at least spray
my little Japanese maples. On Monday, I will call my arborist. Thanks.



They were probably tent caterpillars. This year there has been an
explosion in their population in Massachusetts. They defoliated a lot of
the trees on the main street of Greeenfield, for example.

This is a normal cyclical thing, which peaks every 10 years or so. It
has been reported on forr more than a century. When the tent catepillar
population surges, predators expand to bring them back under control.

The paper here quoted some experts who say that the caterpillars will be
done by mid June and that most of the trees that have been defoliated
will grow new leaves. The exceptions would be trees that were already in
bad shape. They also suggest keeping defoliated trees well-watered.

Thanks, Jenny. I haven't noticed any tents around here, but the
principle should still be the same. These trees were in good
shape, so I'm glad to hear there is hope. Watering is a good
idea! P.S. Nice to see you!

--
Jean B.