I find them year round more or less. Early spring I find the best time to dig them out, they are big enough to be able to track down but most of the damage has not happened yet. This spring I microwaved tanglefoot to get it fluid and painted it directly on the lower 6" of my trunks, to the ground level. I haven't seen a borer since then. Note I dug out 20-30 of them by hand before this treatment. I also treated only 5-year and older trees, the younger ones I used tangle trap instead (less caustic). Scott

rhizo_1 - if you click on the blue word Gallery. There are 5 pictures. On balance I think it is a crab apple but the id doesn't really matter much since it is so diseased and decrepit. I think it is well past any rejuvenation by you. There are two possible actions. If you are a neat and tidy gardener looking for healthy, perfect specimens you should cut this down and start again. If you like a slightly mossy Lord of the Rings look to your surroundings and are interested in supporting your local wild life leave it and let it decline naturally. Dying trees support a lot of invertebrates which in turn support birds. They also provide nesting holes and bark crevices for many creatures. It's your choice.

LOL... mike_home. yep, I guess that everybody's point of ivew of comfort is different. To me, GA is very mild, although people say that it's humid and hot. I lived in Miami before, so I have the comparison. Comparing to the north states, the winter is so mild. August temp: between 90-95 average.... December + January: between 20-55... Unlike many people who set their t-stat at 72 degree for winter, while wearing a t-shirt. I feel better to wear layers in winter, so I don't like to feel the EXTREME changes between indoors and outdoors. We use electricity for the entire house, no gas or other fuel system. I am not sure how to separate the cost of merely heat and AC from the annual electricity cost! I have never calculate the kwh of the HVAC. Anyway, here is the total usage annually, if that would help you to figure out to answer your question for me: Jan 800 kwh Feb 1000 Mar 880 Apr 450 May 450 Jun 650 Jul 580 Aug 790 Sep 570 Oct 400 Nov 570 Dec 1000 * This past December reached up to 1200, because the heat pump was acting up and iced up while it was running for no heat..... See... our electricity usage is not much compared to most people's. So....high energy efficient wouldn't help, right?

I'm so sorry your job has become such a nightmare. It's hard when something that is going to be a great improvement in your home becomes such a trial to get through. I'm with you in spirit - we started what was allegedly a four-month job on December 2, 2013. We knew at the time that six months was more realistic, but we would have the space back by July 4th, no problem. It's one year later and we're still not done (should be about two weeks out). We're close enough now that friends come by to look at the kitchen and say "oh, you're going to love cooking here" and, like OOTM Mom, I feel no pleasure or joy or anticipation, just "whatever, yeah." Every day is a day closer to finished. Hang on.