Invasive insects have been hitting the West Coast hard over the past few years. The Polyphagous and Kuroshio Shot Hole Borers have been attacking more than 300 species of trees between San Diego and San Luis Obispo Counties, killing hundreds of thousands. Arborjet has been working on this since 2012 in the Pasadena area. These pests attack in volume, often looking like a shotgun had been fired at a tree. In addition to physical tree damage, the insect carries a fungus which alone has the power to kill the tree. Fortunately, injecting TREE-äge® along with Propizol®, gives the tree excellent protection and in early stages a great chance to recover. A large study can be viewed at the Pomona Fairplex where an 80 tree study was conducted, clearly showing treated trees live and untreated trees will not survive these attacks. Data from this study can be seen below:
Equally devastating this year is a native pest attacking pine trees in the mountain areas. Pine bark beetles have been relentlessly attacking trees in the foothills and in Arrowhead and Big Bear. The same solution may be applied with TREE-äge alone or in conjunction with Propizol and these treatments, like those for the Shot Hole Borer will last two years. Added concern is given to the Gold Spotted Oak Borer, which is moving more slowly but none the less, attacking live oak trees north through Santa Barbara County. This pest can also be controlled by TREE-äge.
To find help near you or for more information concerning these and other pests or trunk injection as a treatment tool visit www.arborjet.com or contact your local Regional Technical Manager.