talk with a local lawncare type place... that tree can be sprayed ...

would i do it.. no.. i am cheap ...

plagues come and go over the years ... so be it ... you dont really need to react to them ... but they can be a PIA ....

attacking the ants will do nothing.. but kill ants ... they dont HELP them per se... they take advantage of their byproduct ...

be nice to ID the tree.. and then decide whether or not it will kill me in my sleep during some storm.. i do NOT favor trees that size...what looks like 8 feet from my house ...

mom and dad did nothing about a silver maple planted like that.. and after 30 years of me whining about it... it did fall on moms house ... new roof.. new windows... she said it sounded like a bomb going off ... at 84 i dont know how she made it.. i probably would have soiled myself.. and my heart explode ...

this might be a worthy place to spend a hundred or two bucks .... on a local certified arborists opinion as to the tree as a whole ... before you go spending hundreds on spraying ....


ken

Ken: Not only is the tree right next to the house, but the window hidden behind it is my bedroom. So yeah it falling would not be good at all. I know we had some arborists out not too long ago to remove some small trees in the side yard back behind the tree and the only comments they made were that this one was the largest of its kind (blanking on the type) they had seen before and it looked healthy. The aphid problem wasn't there yet and is mostly just a PIA issue I agree.

I think my mom would be heart broken if I ever removed that tree since this is actually the house she grew up in so that tree would have been planted either shortly before my grandparents bought it or by them at some point.

Fori: I know they weren't there (at least not problem causing) last year, but the house also used to have a lawn service that may have put out insecticide. This year I'm handling the yard myself so haven't treated it with anything yet.

I'd like to know what kind of tree it is. Take some pictures of a leaf or two.

Aphids can be controlled simply with sharp sprays of water, no need to spray or spread any poisons around, although reaching to the top of that tree would be difficult. There is no reason to put down poisons to control ants, either, although if there is a real need to control the ants then a band of a sticky substance, such as Tree Tanglefoot, could be used.

Where these Aphids a problem in previous years? If so what, if anything, was done? If not what has changed to allow them to become a problem?

\kimmq is kimmsr

I believe that your tree is a locust of some kind. Does that ring a bell?

I also believe that I see scale insects along one of those branches. I'd love to see an improved image. Locusts are susceptible to pests such as aphids and scale.

Both of those pests excrete honeydew. Later in the summer, a black mold is likely to grow on the sticky surfaces. Honeydew, by the way, can eat the paint off of surfaces, including your vehicles. Has your neighbor complained.......yet?

I'm a little embarrassed that someone suggested using water from a hose on this tree. :-( I'd guess that the previous owner paid to have the tree treated systemically, at the roots. That's a job for professionals.

Your mother doesn't get a vote, but hopefully she will understand the practicality of removal, if you decide that that's what is best for you. Trees do not live forever; they have a finite life expectancy based on the species and a long list of environmental factors. Most of us hate to see a large tree taken down and only do so if necessary.

I was wondering if it was a locust. I'll try to get my SLR out with its macro lens this weekend if weather plays nice. I noticed several different types of insects on it when I first checked so probably some there for the tree, others for the honeydew, others for the other bugs. I'll check with the tree service we used to remove a couple of small trees in the way of a fence going in to see if they do the root treatment. I'm pretty sure the previous owner (my grandmother before she passed) only had a lawn service come for everything so maybe they did something I never noticed. The only thing I know for sure they did other than trim everything and fertilize the lawn was put out grubex.

There is a chance this has been a problem in the past and just never dealt with. My grandmother only had one car and kept it in the garage so it wouldn't have been a problem. This most recent winter was far more mild than the one before so that could have been why I didn't have a problem last year and do now.

On another note, if I ever do get that tree removed, dealing with the stump would be a pain since the gas line somehow runs like right under (maybe ever so slightly to the side) of the thing. The line was recently flagged for my fence going in in the backyard. So that sure wouldn't be fun. That would be one of my main concerns if the tree ever fell. Luckily it seems to lean away from the house, but obviously you can't ever be sure which way it would fall. I think yearly treatments and inspections may be due.

Weather has been screwy all over and you might be getting hit with critters (or just critter intensity) that are different than normal. There may never be a normal again, but it is possible that this is a one-year occurrence. A local guy would be useful.

Since it IS a big tree, and and old and slightly ill one, getting a tree specialist in might not be a bad idea. Someone familiar with local conditions and infestations and all that could evaluate the overall health of it and maybe get some systemic pesticides in it.

I emailed the tree service I used for the other stuff to get an opinion and quote on both this and a possible annual either treatment or just inspection of the tree.

I also saw Bayer Advanced listed online as a systemic pesticide that works on aphids and scale would could be a plan B for either long term or if the quote is higher than I can afford currently (this company is very reasonable though).

The problem I see with the DIY pesticide treatment is that you have to get the dosage right or it's a waste of time and money, chemicals are introduced into the environment needlessly, and the pests are still there.

kim .. you need professional equipment to spray.. even water.. that far up .. this isnt a garden hose job ...

and if rhiz did see scale.. that wont matter ...

i dont like that you said the dudes who did some work out back were CERTIFIED ARBORISTS .. not every monkey with a chainsaw had the training .. INSURE you get a CA ...

btw... next storm.. i am sure you will find some leaves on the ground.. should the birder camera not work well enough ...

i didnt mean to scare the bee gee bees out of you ... all i wanted to point out.. is you need an ON Site inspection .. rather than relying on your computer.. and a bunch of strangers .... money well spent ...

and dont ever mention this to your ins company .;.. lol ...

ken

I have the same type of tree in front of my house, White Locust; and the same bug problem every summer. I was told that it needs to be treated systemically (through the roots) in order to stop the aphids from returning the next year. They are a major problem. Hopefully I can find an organic pest control company to effectively eliminate them this year or the tree is coming down.

So mine turned out to be a honey locust tree and the bugs were not aphids but honey locust bugs, but they do the same thing and are treated the same way. I had a tree service do the systemic treatment the last few years and it worked great. They poured something containing merit (Imidacloprid) around the base.

Last year I had actual aphids infest a tree I believe is in the arborvitae family. For those I used two methods. First I did get some generic brand merit that I treated with myself (so easy I plan to do my locust myself in the future) but the quicker solution I found was actually buying some ladybugs on ebay. Yep live ladybugs.

They are collected out west when they hibernate for winter, but it is the same native species found across the country. Ladybug larvae look like tiny alligators and eat large numbers of aphids each day. I'm not sure if the ones I released had eggs in the container already, or if some wild ones also showed up at the same time, but within a day or so of releasing them I started seeing ladybug larvae launch a full assault on the aphids and within a few days most aphids were gone. It was amazing how fast they worked.

Not sure how well it would work on a big tree, but if organic is important to you I would certainly try some ladybugs. It was only a tiny tiny tree I treated with them, but worth a shot.