Time to join the band!

They are as visible a part of the Charlotte landscape as skyscrapers, cranes and breweries: Those dark, gooey bands that protect our magnificent trees from dreaded cankerworms. December is the time to schedule an appointment for Arborscapes to take care of cankerworm business on your property.

Cankerworms, as we know only too well, are caterpillars that emerge as adult moths in late autumn. The moths feast on the leaves of willow and other oaks, maples and river birch primarily. The female moths (they can’t fly) climb to the highest point in trees and lay their eggs. Do the math: Each moth can lay up to 20 eggs. A large tree can be infested by 100 moths. The eggs hatch in spring. That’s a lot of pests munching their way through the trees you love, the trees that help make your home the treasure it is. Left untreated, a tree can be at risk. But there is an effective treatment, and it isn’t rocket science. The bands contain no chemicals. They are doused in glue. Put them around your tree and they’ll catch those dastardly moths before they can do their thing. As we like to say in our business, “As they try to crawl up, GOTCHA!” It’s tricky, frustrating business to properly install tree bands.

Make an appointment with us and we’ll put them up in December and take them down in mid-March, after they’ve done their job. The cost depends on how many trees you have and how big they are. Aren’t your trees worth it? It’s not as if the Chamber of Commerce is going to put a picture of the tree bands on promotional material advertising “WELCOME TO CHARLOTTE.” But they could, such are the power of the bands to preserve the beauty of our city, one tree at a time.