SPOKANE, Wash. — After the city removed nearly 200 pine trees from public parks and golf courses due to bark beetle infestations, Spokane homeowners need to know how to protect the pine trees in their own backyards.
Spokane is surrounded by beautiful pine trees everywhere you look, but they’re all at risk from a tiny enemy called bark beetles. These “tiny but mighty” culprits target ponderosa pines and can do significant damage.
“They bore in through the bark, then that the tree’s natural defense is to produce a lot of sap and pitch, to try to force the beetle out and seal up those holes,” said Mike Bond, service manager arborist at Spokane Tree Pro.
Bond says beetles are most active in the summer, but recent unusually high temperatures have brought them out during winter months as well.
“We’ve have seen, quite a big increase in their activity. And that’s mainly due to the really hot, dry summers that we’ve been having here. It really stresses out these trees a lot when they’re when they’re in a drought. And, in the high temps, plus the winters haven’t really been too crazy here the past few years,” Bond said.
The beetles have already attacked at least 200 trees in Spokane, including areas like Downriver Golf Course, Indian Canyon and Manito Park. This season, Bond has seen the most beetles on the South Hill and South Spokane Valley.
Bond explains what homeowners should look for to identify bark beetle activity on their property.
“You want to look out for those pitch tubes. If you see a lot of oozing pitch and sap coming out of the tree, that’s a good indication. Another one is the sawdust at the base. That’s indication of a little boring going on,” Bond said.
Once homeowners see the boring and sap, they may need to cut down the tree. However, there is good news — there are preventative measures homeowners can take.
“There is a treatment that you can spray around the trunk of the tree, around the bark. But you want to do that before they’re active…. typically early spring, late winter time. They are really only active in the late spring throughout the summer,” Bond said.
With bark beetles in the area, Bond suggests homeowners take a look at pine trees in their yards to check for signs of infestation.
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