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Tree Insect Control in South Florida

Summer time in Florida is beautiful with warm temperatures, blue skies and cooling breezes. The sun is shining, birds are singing and the shade beneath the trees is most inviting. The sweet fragrance of lush, pretty blooms is in the air. It is the perfect time for a picnic. Unfortunately the picnic may not be your idea, and it may attract some uninvited guests. Worst of all, what is on the menu may be the trees and shrubs in your yard. Watch out for these digging, leaf-chewing and root-eating party crashers.

The insects that attack trees are much more numerous in the summer. They leave the trees wounded and weakened, sitting ducks for disease to take over and kill the tree...or trees. They don't tend to stop after destroying only one. Countless insects live on, in, and around trees. They can be beneficial for pollination or as predators of plant-destroying bugs. Some of these insects are harmless, yet there are also many species that can cause fatal damage to your greenery. Some attack the leaves, some the bark and others may bore into the very core of the tree itself. Now we will take a look at some of the usual suspects.

A close look at the leaves of your plants can often detect white skins shed by developing aphids. Aphids are soft bodied, pear-shaped insects usually less than 1/8 inch long. They feed by piercing-sucking mouth-parts and often can be found feeding on stem tissue of infested plants. Frequently the undersides of developing leaves are infested, and feeding causes distorted or stunted leaf development. Aphids also suck the sap out of new growth on any plant or tree. While the aphids won't kill a tree, they will cause the foliage to become malformed. Aphids also spread disease and their secretions attract sooty-mold fungus.

The southern pine beetle is the most destructive insect pest of pine in the southern United States. It is estimated that these beetles caused $900 million of damage to pine forests from 1960 through 1990. This aggressive tree killer is an insect native to Florida. You will find them mostly in the inner bark of pine trees. Females land 6 to 30 feet above the ground on fully grown trees and bore into the bark. There, they create galleries (tunnels) in which they mate and lay eggs. The yellowish white, legless grubs feed in the inner bark, enlarging their tunnels as they grow. Mature larvae move to the outer bark and create a cell in which they pupate. New adults chew through the bark, further damaging the tree, and leave small, clearly visible, open exit holes. Trees attacked by southern pine beetles often are inflicted with hundreds of resin masses (which are also called "pitch tubes") on the outer tree bark.

The Mediterranean fruit fly is one of the world's most destructive fruit pests. Its larvae feed and develop on many deciduous, subtropical, and tropical fruits and some vegetables. It can be a major pest of citrus, especially harmful to your orange, grapefruit, tangerine and lemon and lime trees. Usually though it is a serious pest of some deciduous fruits, such as peach, pear, and apple. The larvae feed upon the pulp of host fruits, sometimes tunneling through it and finally reducing the whole to a juicy, inedible mass. The Mediterranean fruit fly has one of the widest host ranges of any pest fruit fly. For that reason it is considered the most important agricultural pest in the world.

The giant palm borer is one of the largest tree-destroying beetles known. Adult beetles reach nearly 60 mm (2.5 in.) in length. Borer grubs can live inside a palm trunk for up to nine years before exiting as beetles through quarter-sized holes. The adult beetle is elongated and cylindrical in shape and brown to black in color. The larvae of this species are stout and C-shaped and yellowish in color. Adult females bore tunnels in the soft tissue near the crown of the palm. Males follow them in, mate, and the females then lay around 500 eggs. The larvae hatch and begin to bore galleries as they feed on the inner stem of the palm. The larval stage may last from 3 to 9 years. The larvae pupate in April and May, emerging from inside the palm as adults about two months later. The emergence of adults forms easily spotted holes in the trunk of the palm.

These are just a few of the many, many unwelcome visitors who may be, even now, enjoying breakfast, lunch and dinner at your expense. To find out for sure and protect your plants, shrubs and trees it is time to call the experts at Zimmerman Tree Service  . With over 30 years of experience, Zimmerman Tree Service is a full service organization providing shade, fruit and ornamental tree care as well as insect, disease and fertilization programs. As a leader in tree care, Zimmerman Tree Service’s unique approach of delivering a wide range of arboriculture services conveniently eliminates the time and expense of searching for and experimenting with different companies.

Zimmerman Tree Service provides plant care, lawn, insect control, pruning, stump grinding, exotic invasive removal, mangrove, lethal yellowing treament, pine revitalization, coconut palm injections, blend fertilizers, disease, cabling, bracing, lightning protection and total plant health care in Palm Beach County, Boca Raton, West Palm, Wellington, Manalapan, Green Acres, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lantana, Boynton Beach Tree and the rest of Palm Beach County, as well as Broward and Martin Counties in South Florida. Call 561-968-1045

2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook

The Weather Channel released its first 2013 Atlantic hurricane season outlook on April 8, 2013, calling for another active season.

The forecast calls for a total of 16 named storms, 9 of which are expected to become hurricanes, including 5 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale).
These forecast numbers are above the long-term average from 1950-2012 (12 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 major hurricanes) and slightly above the averages for the current active era from 1995-2012 (15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, 4 major hurricanes).

Overdue for hurricanes are Honolulu, Savannah, San Diego and Tampa. We have been lucky the last few years here in Florida but must remember that eventually the law of averages will catch up with us. In the past our state has taken quite a beating from hurricanes. The 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which devastated the Florida Keys, killed 600. Andrew in 1992 leveled much of Homestead and caused $26.5 billion in damages to all the areas impacted.

Hurricanes bring winds that can exceed 125 miles per hour. You can also expect heavy rain and flooding. Any or all of these storm effects can which damage trees. Although some damage can be seen immediately, some effects of structural damage to trees may not become apparent for years. Downed or weakened trees can be hazardous to people, buildings, and power lines.

 Storm damaged trees should be assessed for risk as soon as possible after a hurricane or other major storm. Signs that a tree could be a hazard include new cracks in the lower trunk or large stems split from the tree. Major roots can be severed or broken, and the tree may be partially uprooted. There may be a noticeable tree lean attributable to the storm. You may see large limbs broken and most of tree's crown damaged.

If one or more of these conditions are present, consult with a professional arborist as soon as possible. Until the tree damage is addressed, stay clear and keep vehicles and other moveable assets out of range. This is the time to call the experts at Zimmerman Tree Service for hurricane storm protection in South Florida, 561-968-1045.

Three straight Atlantic hurricane seasons have had 19 storms.  Only seven Atlantic seasons have had more hurricanes than last season's 10 hurricanes.  Among the four U.S. landfalls were the most intense tropical cyclone to make a U.S. landfall prior to June 1 (Tropical Storm Beryl), a soaking Tropical Storm Debby, a painfully slow Hurricane Isaac, and one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history, Superstorm Sandy. (Sandy became a "post-tropical" system shortly before landfall.)

UPDATE: Colorado State University (CSU) released its forecast for the 2013 hurricane season on April 10, 2012. Similar to The Weather Channel forecast, CSU expects an above-average hurricane season. The team is predicting a total of 18 named storms, 9 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).

Zimmerman Tree Service provides plant care, lawn, insect control, pruning, stump grinding, exotic invasive removal, mangrove, lethal yellowing treament, pine revitalization, coconut palm injections, blend fertilizers, disease, cabling, bracing, lightning protection and total plant health care in Palm Beach County, Boca Raton, West Palm, Wellington, Manalapan, Green Acres, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lantana, Boynton Beach Tree and the rest of Palm Beach County, as well as Broward and Martin Counties in South Florida. Call 561-968-1045