Bark peeling on a birch tree clued me into a borer issue

The client said the peeling began fast. I used my knife to check the bark and saw borer larvae. Putting on a systemic insecticide will help control them. Finding it early really helped the tree.

4 comments

4 Comments

the_margaret12d ago

Early find was smart, but putting on that kind of insecticide is a band-aid (and can hurt helpful bugs in your yard). Those borers usually go for trees that are already stressed from drought or bad soil. The better fix is to give the tree a deep, slow water once a week and add some mulch around the base. A healthy tree can often fight off the bugs on its own. Honestly, birch trees are just kind of fragile that way sometimes.

johnson.river12d ago

Agree with @the_margaret, healthy trees fight back.

leo_johnson1d ago

Margaret's got the right idea with the deep watering and mulch (it's basically tree first aid). I've seen borers take out a birch in one season when it was dry, so that weekly soak is non-negotiable. Johnson.river is spot on about health being the best defense, but sometimes you need to step in if the bugs are already under the bark. A trunk spray in early spring can target the adults before they lay eggs, which is way better than a band-aid fix later.

the_simon12d ago

Ugh, birch trees are so fussy though, right? Margaret's totally right that they go after stressed trees, but like Johnson.River said, a healthy tree fights back. It's just annoying you have to baby them with weekly deep watering to even have a chance.