What to do before spongy moths damage your trees irreplaceably
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Spring is arriving, bringing back fresh green leaves and vibrant blooms. Unfortunately, as residents of north central Pennsylvania know, it also can bring infestations of hungry spongy moths.
It's early in the season, and with the weather having gone through some cycles of really warm and really cold over the winter, it's hard to know exactly when the moths -- also called gypsy moths -- will show up and wreak havoc.
"It could mean that they're going to pop out earlier," said Rick Jordan, operations manager of CNY Drone Services. "They might not change at all. It's very unpredictable and requires constant monitoring to ascertain"
What is certain is that when they arrive, the caterpillars will gorge themselves on freshly growing vegetation. While that includes all plant life, the creatures feed primarily on leafy trees, Jordan said. Millions can swarm in and start crunching on beautiful old trees, and the aftermath can be devastating.
"It literally looks like wildfires went through the places," Jordan said.
Homeowners and landowners must act decisively in the right window in the spring to protect treasured trees on their properties, Jordan said. If they don't, beloved trees could just be gone. For example, Jordan knows of some homeowners who have an irreplaceable oak tree that is integral to their home.
"This old oak tree, large and beautiful, they built their house around this tree," he said. "It was exactly where they step out their back door. They're in the shade, this beautiful canopy. You can't replace that. You don't buy a new tree and replace that."
What's particularly scary is that it's difficult to know if a single season of a moth outbreak will ruin a tree or if it will survive a few years without adequate treatment, Jordan said.
"It starts off fairly localized, but it builds up to a very bad infestation," he said. "What ends up happening is, once you hit that threshold of your trees being completely defoliated or more than 50% defoliation, that's your first stage of a downward spiral. The longer you go and just let these trees fend for themselves, it's just a matter of time before the effects of defoliation start to kick in and kill the trees off. It's very unpredictable."
Landowners hoping to take some time to decide how to deal with an infestation can't guarantee they won't lose trees they have enjoyed for decades.
"You can't say, 'This tree is going to survive two deflorations before it's going to die,'"Jordan said. "We've seen cases with a single tree, a beautiful 300-year-old tree. The first season it got hit -- it's now dead. We've seen the flip side: trees that are defoliated seven, eight years. It's knocking on death's door, but it's still there. But should you risk it?"
Fortunately, there is a new and successful method of treating trees on private properties that can protect them from being lost forever. CNY Drone Services can deliver a specialized insecticide by drone. Drone delivery ensures a targeted and thorough treatment without harming people's land or their families. It penetrates the tree canopy and can reach parts of the tree that can't be treated by other traditional services.
Preventive treatment is much less than the cost of cutting down and removing dead trees -- not to mention replanting and waiting years, even decades, for a tree to grow large.
"It's a little bit expensive, but the alternative is you're going to lose your trees, and that could cost you thousands more than we're going to charge," Jordan said.
For more information https://cnydroneservices.com/
email: info@cnydroneservices.com or call 315-351-6516.