As summer heat and lack of rain takes over, all plants including trees suffer. Is this due to the tree having adequate water? It could be. You’d think that the aphids would be feasting on the new succulent growth, but alas they are not. ![]() It sucks – or should I say, the aphids do.Īt the beginning of the growing season, this tree is in good health with no aphids in sight. All the plants at its feet including a rhododendron, star magnolia, rose and spirea are covered with the sticky stuff. It’s adjacent to my driveway and I warn people not to park near it. ![]() 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. Was it the tree variety, the climate, the soil or superior maintenance? I think it was a combo of all those factors. I was impressed with a perfectly healthy huge Silver Pendant Lime tree ( Tilia tomentosa 'Petiolaris') at the Jephson Garden, Leamington Spa in England. The lindens grown here in BC, are predominantly the Little Leaf Lindens ( Tilia cordata) and they are savaged by aphids. 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. 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. It covers sidewalks, cars, plants and anything or anyone that lingers too long. It soon coats all the leaves, dripping onto anything below. Symptoms first appear on the foliage as they become coated with this thick, glossy and clear honeydew from the feeding aphids. It doesn’t cause too much harm to the plant other than blocking out the sunlight. It looks like the name implies - black soot - and it covers the leaves. The honeydew also attracts a fungus called Black Sooty Mould. Probably too much information for you there – sorry. This sweet gummy stuff attracts ants, which ‘farm’ or ‘milk’ the aphids for their honeydew by stroking the aphid’s abdomen. As the aphids suck out the tree’s juices, they excrete a sticky and smelly substance called honeydew. It’s actually the secretions of zillions of aphids that are feeding on the poor tree. ![]() Many believe the tree is oozing sap, but it’s not. My car is covered with a sticky substance because I parked it under a tree dripping with gummy, tacky goop. Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
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