The bark is coming off my... - Ask Extension
The bark is coming off my hawthorn tree. It lookings like something is digging into it. Sap is also running out of it. If it get girdled will it kill ...
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The bark is coming off my... #188799
Asked June 06, 2014, 8:03 AM EDT
The bark is coming off my hawthorn tree. It lookings like something is digging into it. Sap is also running out of it. If it get girdled will it kill the tree.
Berkshire County Massachusetts
Expert Response
Hi,I am not really an insect specialist but it looks to me that a woodpecker has been making holes in the tree trying to get a boring insect that is inside. That is why the sap is coming out of the holes. Once the borer is in the tree, I don't think there is too much one can do about it unless some type of systemic insecticide is used. It will emerge as an adult. At the UConn Home & Garden Education Center (<personal data hidden>) there are several horticulturists who are much better at insect problems than me. Why don't you email them your picture and question and they would have more specific recommendations than I do.
Thank you for your time. I went to a nursery in town and they said same thing. Yellow Bellied Sap Suck. Gave me tree tape and some kind of sticky stuff to spread on it to keep him away.