Box Tree Moth — A New Defoliator of Boxwood

Hot and windy weather can be very stressful for newly installed beautiful trees and shrubs. Newly planted trees and shrubs require more water because they have such a small root system. The root system is actually a very important source of both absorbed and stored water for the plant. Roots need to absorb enough water from the soil to support the plant daily, and much of a young plant’s needed nutrition comes in as dissolved nutrients within that soil water.

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is an aphid-like insect that attacks and kills hemlock trees. Its egg sacs, which look like cotton balls or clumps of snow, can be found at the base of needles. It can be spread by wind, animals and human movement of nursery stock, logs, firewood and other wood products.

All of us can remember the severe outbreak of Spongy moth larvae in 2021, they were literally everywhere, hanging off trees and crawling up the sides of our homes. We’ve had Spongy moth in southern Ontario since 1969, what happened to cause such an unusual spike in the population?