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Tisn't The Season: Tips For Pests In Your Christmas Tree

A real, living Christmas tree can be a festive sight to behold in your front room, and it brings a nice, wintery, Christmas-y smell to your entire home. Sure, there are a few negatives to this—it's a bit more work to take care of, you can't reuse it, the needles drop off—but all around, nothing can get you in the holiday spirit faster than a real, live Christmas tree. But with real plants come real insects, and those pests who were just looking for a warm house out of the cold can cause your tree to get sick and die if you're not careful in getting rid of them and preventing new bugs from burrowing in. So if you're looking for a few tips towards protecting your Christmas tree from (and clearing your tree of) any nasty little pests, then here's what you need to know.

Aphid Alarms

Luckily, your Christmas tree isn't really prone to attracting any really big or really harmful bugs—but pine trees do collect aphids (and aphid eggs) in spades, so that should be the first thing you check for. Aphids generally leave a few telltale signs on the trees they inhabit: premature yellowing of branches and needles, black mold fungus, and, most tellingly, clusters of aphids feeding on a branch at any given time. To get rid of the aphids lodged on your Christmas centerpiece, a spray with cold water (which makes them scatter), a dusting of flour (which constipates them, causing many to die off) or a wipe-down with insecticidal soap should be enough to banish the aphids and leave you with a clean, clear tree.

Egg Issues

Even if your tree is completely clear of bugs, it's probably got quite a few insect eggs interspersed within the green needles and thick branches—and with the warm conditions in your home, those eggs will think that it's spring (and thus time for them to come out), and hatch within hours. This is the critical time; use a hose attachment with your vacuum and run it lightly (use a lower setting on your vacuum if you have one) over the branches, just hard enough to suck up eggs but not hard enough to damage any bristles. This will help prevent an infestation without you having to constantly watch your tree to ensure you didn't pick up a colony of pests.

Prevention (and Cleanup) is Key

Lots of work can be avoided if you simply take a few precautions with the care of your Christmas tree. Before you bring it in, give it a few nice, firm shakes to dislodge bugs, eggs, and especially any birds' nests (as these little stick-woven bowls tend to attract mites, which are bad news for your house and furniture). A light pesticide should be all you need here if you really find a lot of bugs swarming your tree; after that, wait for the small number of remaining bugs to die off and vacuum them up as they fall off the tree. Contact a company like ASE Pest & Weed Supplies for information on pest control supplies that are safe to use on your Christmas tree.


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