Cultural Controls
Cultural controls are management techniques
that help to ensure healthy hemlock trees. They involve simple physical
actions property owners can take and in general are most appropriate for ornamental
landscape trees.
Practices
■
Keep ornamental hemlocks mulched and watered
during prolonged droughts. Mulch made from bark or shredded hardwood is
more effective and longer lasting than pine straw; it should be applied about 3
inches thick out to the drip line but pulled back from the trunk a couple of
inches so as not to encourage fungal growth or other insect infestation.
Trees require about an inch of water per week; click here for a
Water Needs
Chart showing how much water trees of different sizes need -- you'll be
surprised!
■
If you go hiking, camping, fishing, etc. in an
infested area, your gear and clothes may be carrying adelgid eggs or crawlers,
so take care not to spread them to uninfested trees.
■
Don't bring saplings from infested areas onto your
property.
■
Don't place bird feeders or deer feeders near hemlock trees;
birds and deer can spread HWA eggs and crawlers for long distances.
■
Don't fertilize infested trees until you have the
HWA infestation under control as this would
encourage new growth and attract even more adelgids.
■
Do normal "forest management" by thinning your
hemlocks so the best ones have a better chance to survive. This means
cutting hemlocks that are growing too close to each other (unless you're using
them for a hedge), that are physically damaged or dead, or that you don't intend
to save. It is not necessary to burn, chip, shred, or haul away the cut
trees; when the tree is cut, the sap dries up and adelgids that are feeding on
the tree will die.
■
Keep a watchful eye on your hemlocks and be
prepared to take action at the first sign of woolly adelgids.
■
If you don't intend to use chemical or biological
controls, you can remove some of the adelgids mechanically by picking
them off, pruning the
infested branches, or using a high-pressure water hose.

Advantages of Cultural Controls
Cultural controls are usually easy for a
property owner to do and require only some time and effort. They are an "all
natural" approach that can help your hemlocks in their struggle to survive.
Disadvantages of Cultural Controls
Cultural controls will not eradicate the adelgids once they arrive on your property. They provide no long-term
protection, and property owners should use them in combination with chemical controls.
Back
to HWA Controls
Chemical
Controls
Biological
Controls
|