Help! My trees are full of holes!

Categories: Disease and Insects Trees and shrubs

This pine tree is showing a very common problem many home/land owners encounter when they take a close look at their trees.  Often misdiagnosed for borers, it is actually damage caused by the feeding of a yellow-bellied sapsucker!  This woodpecker feeds not only on the sap, but on the insects that the sap attracts.  They are also creatures of habit and will return to the same tree time after time.  The damage is the photo above is actually fairly moderate compared to what the woodpeckers are capable of doing.

Surprisingly enough, this is usually not harmful to the tree.  I am not at all concerned about the tree in this picture  succumbing to this damage.  (Now, failing when it grows into the adjacent building is another story but we’ll save that for another day).  Only in cases where the tree has been completely girdled should there be cause for concern.  Also, this tree does not need any kind of “treatment” to protect it or help it heal, it will do that on its own.

If you have a situation like this and you wish to stop it, your options are somewhat limited.  Remember first and foremost that these birds are federally protected and you cannot legally do anything to harm them.  Also, there are not really any treatments that can be sprayed on that will act as effective deterrents.  The best you can do is to try to become a bigger pest than the woodpecker by creating an unpleasant dining experience.  Try hanging pie plates, tin foil, or other things that will create a visual disturbance for the bird.  You can also loosely wrap burlap or netting around areas like this as long as you remember to remove it once the woodpecker moves on.

This is a classic example of how to make lemonade out of lemons with your landscape problems.  Try to catch this beautiful bird in the act with your camera.  If you do, send me a picture!

Good luck!