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Amanda's Blog

Amanda's Garden Consulting Company

Trees that drip sticky stuff

5/8/2017

0 Comments

 
My car is covered with a sticky substance because I parked it under a tree dripping with gummy, tacky goop.

Many believe the tree is oozing sap, but it’s not. It’s actually much grosser than that. It’s actually the secretions of zillions of aphids that are feeding on the poor tree. As the aphids suck out the tree’s juices, they excrete a sticky and smelly substance called honeydew. This sweet gummy stuff attracts ants, which ‘farm’ or ‘milk’ the aphids for their honeydew by stroking the aphid’s abdomen. Probably too much information for you there – sorry.

The honeydew also attracts a fungus called Black Sooty Mould. It looks like the name implies - black soot - and it covers the leaves. It doesn’t cause too much harm to the plant other than blocking out the sunlight. It’s the aphids that are the problem.
​
Symptoms first appear on the foliage as they become coated with this thick, glossy and clear honeydew from the feeding aphids. It soon coats all the leaves, dripping onto anything below. It covers sidewalks, cars, plants and anything or anyone that lingers too long. 
Picture

Which Trees Are Susceptible

  • Lindens (Tilia species)
  • Tulip Trees (Liriodendron species)
  • Weeping Willows (Salix babylonica)
  • Poplars (Populus species)
Picture

prevention

Some trees are really prone to aphid infestations, but it does depend on the type of tree, the climate, the tree’s health as well as its maintenance. For example, lindens, also known as Lime trees, are grown extensively in England, but don’t seem to suffer like the ones grown in British Columbia. The lindens grown here in BC, are predominantly the Little Leaf Lindens (Tilia cordata) and they are savaged by aphids. I was impressed with a perfectly healthy huge Silver Pendant Lime tree (Tilia tomentosa 'Petiolaris') at the Jephson Garden, Leamington Spa in England. Was it the tree variety, the climate, the soil or superior maintenance? I think it was a combo of all those factors.

Meanwhile, back at home in my neighbour’s adjoining front yard, her variegated tulip tree, Liriodendeon tulipifera 'Aureomarginata', is dripping a fine mist of stickiness on everything below it. It’s adjacent to my driveway and I warn people not to park near it. All the plants at its feet including a rhododendron, star magnolia, rose and spirea are covered with the sticky stuff. It sucks – or should I say, the aphids do.
​
At the beginning of the growing season, this tree is in good health with no aphids in sight. You’d think that the aphids would be feasting on the new succulent growth, but alas they are not. Is this due to the tree having adequate water? It could be. As summer heat and lack of rain takes over, all plants including trees suffer. This lowers a plant’s resistance, which results in insects honing in on the weakened tree. 
Picture

What to do

​First off, keep trees watered during the summer. Soak the soil to about 12 inches to beyond the drip line (where the canopy ends), once a month. Lay a hose on good trickle for about half an hour a couple of times a week. Avoid watering at the base of the trunk as it may cause the trunk to rot.
Keep moisture in the soil by applying a 3 inch layer mulch under the tree on top of the soil, pass the canopy (dripline). Avoid placing it against the tree trunk to prevent rotting. If it the tree is planted in the lawn, it is not going to do as well as compared to having its own bed with mulch. 

control

Spraying huge trees with any kind of anything is impossible and very impractical. If the tree is small enough to coat it thoroughly, soap and water is effective, but you must reapply in 7 days to kill their offspring. Fun time.
Another control is dormant oil applying in January or February just before the tree buds out. A dormant oil, lime sulfur combination is an effective control for overwintering insects and diseases. Follow the directions to the letter and go for complete coverage. This is a relatively low toxic method that is often used for organic pest control. 

Ladybugs Rule!

If you have an aphid infested tree, inspect it closely for ladybugs before spraying with anything, including soap and water as it will kill them too.

Ladybugs take many forms so be aware of the different stages in their life-cycle: eggs, larva, pupa and adults. The larva and pupa look nothing like the adults. The larva are shaped like an alligator while the pupa resemble bird droppings. 

There are lots of ladybugs, their larva and pupa on my neighbour’s tulip tree. They were doing a happy dance as they feasted away. Spraying is not an option as I know these beneficial insects are doing the job for me.


ladybug, lady bug, lady beetle, aphids, beneficial insects, Amanda Jarrett, thegardenwebsite.com
An adult ladybug.
 ladybug larva, lady beetle larva, thegardenwebsite.com, Amanda Jarrett
Ladybug larva.
ladybug pupa, lady beetle pupa, thegardenwebsite.com, Amanda Jarrett
ladybug eggs, lady beetle eggs, thegardenwebsite.com, Amanda Jarrett
Ladybug eggs.

My lesson is learned though as I can’t control the aphids so I’ve just got to remember to look up before parking! ​
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    Archives

    Here are some of my previous blog postings. They cover a wide range of topics from bugs to my botanical excursions and conventions. Click on whichever interests you on the titles below for easy navigation. 
    • ​Building a French Kitchen (Potager) Garden
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Tomato Taming
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvests
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Plant Rusts
    • Dunbar Garden Club Garden Tour 2020
    • Rose Bloom Balling
    • ​Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses Do Exist.. Really!​
    • Easy Vegetable Garden Trellis 
    • Tomato Seedlings to Plants
    • Video: How to Divide Dahlias 
    • Video: How to Plant a Tree
    • Video: How to Prune a Grapevine in Winter
    • Damping Off - A Seedling Killer!
    • Lawns: ​Seeding, Sowing, Renovating
    • Lawn Grub Control
    • Tuberous Begonias 101
    • Dahlias 101
    • Pruning in Winter
    • Pruning & Training Grape Vines in Winter
    • Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
    • Dealing With Drought
    • Heritage Vancouver 7th Annual Garden Tour
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Pruning Shrubs into Trees
    • 10 Steps to Festive Planter
    • Christmas Tree Selection 
    • Collecting & Saving Seeds
    • Heritage Vancouver 6th Garden Tour
    • The Dunbar Garden Tour 2018
    • Dart's Hill, A Garden Park
    • VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visit
    • Tall Kale Tales
    • Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle
    • Pruning in Winter
    • Pruning & Training Grape Vines in Winter
    • Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
    • Why Christmas cactus Don't Blossom
    • A Quickie Festive Swag
    • Putting the Garden to Bed
    • How to Drain Soggy Soil
    • A Visit to the Arizona - Sonora Desert
    • Banana, Palm Tree Winter Protection
    • Lasagna Gardening, Sheet Mulching
    • Saving Geraniums, Coleus, Bougainvilleas & Other Tender Plants 
    • Spiders Everywhere - Oh My!
    • Tomato Troubles & Soil Solarization
    • Trees That Drip That Sticky Stuff
    • Balcony Bliss
    • June Bugs - One Huge Beetle! 
    • A Summer's Day Harvest
    • The Dunbar Garden Club Private Tour
    • Leaky Birdbaths and Slug Free Strawberries
    • Oops... Wrong Plant, Wrong Place
    • I Had An Ugly Lawn...​
    • ​How to Make a Christmas Elf
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • To subscribe to my blog click here. 

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Photo used under Creative Commons from vwcampin
  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
  • Garden Club Events