Thanks Katrina and Ken! Ken, as you figured, I first noted the damage on the south side of the tree (looked to me like that was where it started) and what looked to be more recent damage continued along the east side. The tree is warrantied for one year (I planted it in October). Since the trunk at its base is "girdled", with no bark for the first foot or so up from the ground, it looks pretty serious to me. I am wondering if there is anything I can do in order to promote the process for this tree to heal. I am not sure if there are borers present. When I peeled back the rotted bark I found what looked to be a green/grey caterpillar that was about an inch long. It was located between the bark and the trunk. There may have been two or three others that were also there - I saw a couple scurry away into the dirt. And, from what I understand, usually borers will scar the wood on the surface of the tree - I can see no tell tale scar patterns that indicate this. So, should I consider using the Bayer Systemic goo with these indicators / under these conditions? I agree with you, I like to use more natural means to take care of the garden. AND since I have a number of other trees that I have transplanted this year (and last) are there other precautions that I might take to avoid "bark scald" or "sun scald" from happening to other trees? (This year's plantings include Persian Perotia, River Birch, Purple Prince Crabapple, Alaskan Cedar and a Fraser Fir - Last year's crop includes two London Planes, and a Kwanzan Cherry). Thanks Again! And back to Ken - Just off a couple of letters - I am Ken Mareski from St. Clair.

Can't say enough about the benefits of predatory "bugs", our true bugs. Nothing makes me happier than to see a cog wheel bug or an assassain bug perched quietly among my plants, waiting patiently for an unsuspecting catepillar to come strolling past. And the next time you start to swat a fly, you might want to see what kind it is...some of our most common flies also parasitise caterpillars. We are so caught up in our need for immediate gratification...we really want to see results NOW. It is tough to reassuringly tell yourself about balance and long-term fluctuations when you can see the damage being done to a prized planting on a daily basis. And there isn't always a handbook to tell you what the threshold is-the point at which you either take evasive action or suffer a complete loss. I am reminded of the cicada hatching we had here several years back. All you could do was clap your hands over your ears when you went out and stare in disbelief at the branches completely covered with those shiny black insects. How could the trees possibly survive that sucking screaming carpet? But then things quiet down eventually and the scavengers clean up the last of the carcasses and you see that aside from a few dead branches and weakened individual trees, they came out of it ok. Unless the invader is a foreign one and the ecosystem has no defenses for the newcomer, there is always a check and balance.

The 1980 gypsy moth outbreak in southern CT, as I remember it, 36 years after the fact. Back in those days greenup started in early May, give or take. I noticed something strange on a barely sprouting staghorn sumac. Very small hairy cats, all hair in fact. Just hatched gypsies covered the sumac. I began to look at other stuff, and realized everything was covered. Where they came from in such numbers was a puzzle, as previous seasons egg masses didn't indicate there would be a severe infestation. That spring was warm and fairly dry, ideal weather for expanding foliage and cats. By late May the cats were eating the foliage faster than it could grow. The cats began ballooning, traveling on the wind on silken threads. People began complaining of rashes on exposed skin, albeit mild, but rashes nonetheless.The media got wind of the situation and there were reports on the local news. This was back in the days when the internet was but a gleam in Al Gore's eye. By early June the cats were on the move, they had denuded large areas of forest and ornamental plantings, and they were hungry. The cats were everywhere, they got in houses and vehicles, dropped on people walking beneath trees and were a general pita. By late June everything was denuded and the cats were starving. They moved in great masses out of the trees looking for fresh fodder. Some roads became as slick as black ice from the smashed bodies. Spruces, hemlocks, doug firs, and arborvitaes were stripped bare. The pines, whose candles hadn't expanded yet had all the old needles eaten, so candle growth was very stunted, but at least the large trees survived, small ones not so much. The cats have a rotten habit of climbing to the top of conifers and eating their way down. When I would go out first thing AM, I could smell the resin on the air from overnight feeding of the hemlocks. By now the story had made the national news. The cats do most of their feeding at night, and on hot days they tend to leave the treetops and migrate downward were it's cooler. Early AM the the cat poop sounded like light rain on the ground beneath the trees. Trees heavily infested had branches that looked as though they were coated with fur. By late June the cats were starving. Anyone with a commercial spray rig became rich overnight. The first areas stripped were beginning to grow new foliage, the cats had moved on. One scene I will never forget: the cats had stripped everything from a residential property and were on the front lawn eating the grass. During this episode the cats ate everything that wasn't sprayed. Countless conifers were killed outright. EVERY species of deciduous tree,save one, was denuded. By Independence Day the frenzy was over. Most cats had starved or were killed by disease. By August, trees had refoliated. Oaks regrew leaves that were normal size, most everything else did not, their foliage being less than half normal size. Very few egg masses were found, the following year there were no cats to speak of. Spring greenup was normal. Years previous to this had featured drought, and lesser gypsy outbreaks. The forests were stressed. The most common forest tree in CT is oak. Some areas are predominately so, and oak wilt began to make inroads. UConn foresters predicted that in time with repeated outbreaks of insects and diseases the forest would transition from oak-hickory to birch-red maple. Fortunately this prediction has failed to come true. When I left CT in 1985 the forests were not in good shape. The oak-hickory forest is stressed to this day. The species not touched by the moths? Green trees that stood out like beacons in a landscape that looked like January in July? Liriodendron tulipifera. For whatever reason the cats wouldn't touch it, even to death by starvation. At the time I wondered if scientists could figure what it was that prevented the cats from eating the foliage, synthesize it and make a product that could be sprayed over forests as a deterrent to the moth. Guess not.

Ken - can't birds just get at them through the web? ==>> well.. on that logic.. why didnt you just stick your hand in and grab the gooey chuckers ,... NOT!!!!! ... lol i have these things around the 5 acres ... i ignore them ... but my point above was .... there really is no need to cut up the plant ... no matter what it looks like now ... i rather have a bigger plant next year ... most bug plagues .. come and go ... over the years ... and usually there is little or no need to react ... unless its one of those peak years ... and even then ... no need to get carried away ... its akin to my usual comment of .... try not to love them to death ... along the lines of amputating your arm.. for a boo boo on your finger ... ken