Those Camouflaged Culprits

• Posted on 25 June 2020
• 0

BatesRewards members get 10% off EVERYTHING! (NO exclusions!)

I mentioned bagworms last week.  I feel the need to make one last advisory. Here is a bagworm tale from nine years ago, when I noticed a bagworm hanging on one of my Horstmann Blue Atlas Cedars.  It had been overlooked, and not removed.  As I expected, the empty cocoon from the previous year’s bagworm spelled trouble…by the hundreds.

Now that my attention was focused, I began to notice a few juvenile bagworms on my then 6-foot tall cedar; I began pulling them off. The more I pulled the more I noticed.  An hour later I was still looking for missed bagworms.  By my best estimate, I removed around 400 bagworms from a single tree that all emerged from a single cocoon.  Pulling them off by hand works well, but the camouflage of the needles makes them extremely hard to find for removal.  Here’s a tip to assist you in spotting those hidden bagworms: look for them with your head up side down.  I’m not sure why they seem to be easier to spot using this method, but they are for me.  Likely, my neighbors now think I have a loose screw; perhaps they thought that

previously: Here’s video evidence.

Whether you pick them or spray them, make sure you look for bagworms on your prize conifers now; if I had noticed two weeks later, they would have done irreparable harm.  Look closely! 

Even though summer is officially here, it is possible you have failed to get plantings completed.  The weather is still quite mild.  It is a great time for planting. Through Thursday July 2, everything is 10% off for BatesRewards members. Everything.

We have special guest Randall Lantz of Metro Parks, live this Saturday from 8-9a on, “The At Home Show with Josh Cary and David Bates”.  We’ll discuss gardening pests you need to be mindful of; namely Emerald Ash Borer, and we’ll discuss construction at Centennial Park.

Remember, we have free iced bottled water to keep you cool; we look forward to seeing you!

David Bates