Tree Ordinances, what do they mean for you?

Tree Ordinances

Often times in movies you will see neighbors that are good friends torn apart by an argument over a tree hanging in their yard, or blocking their view. A fight ensues and the party being affected sets out to destroy the tree without checking into what the tree ordinances are in their area. This is not a realistic way to handle a situation like this, but it makes for an interesting and funny plot line that usually ends in disaster. You do have some rights when it comes to someone else’s tree hanging on your property, you just need to know what the law is and what type of ordinances your town has in place.

A lot of people don't know that there are tree ordinances in most communities that help protect the trees that are there as well as the rights of the residents. There are different types of ordinances when it comes to regulating the flora to keep the plant life managed and looking great in the town. Trees make a street nice and make people happy when they can set up their dream yard. It is important to follow the ordinances your town has put into place so you don’t end up having to remove your tree later on. Tree ordinances of course will only apply to those who live in a town within the city limits.

There are a couple of different kinds of tree ordinances. The first is a protection ordinance which makes sure the trees that are native to the area remain intact. The protection ordinance will also protect those trees that have a historical significance in the town. If there is a reason someone wants to remove one of those trees then they will have to receive a permit which grants them permission. Street tree ordinances cover where trees can be planted within a town and when they should be removed. If a tree is threatening the safety of the public then it will be removed. If you are planting trees then there are specifications about not blocking public areas and planting in parking lots. If you are in town and the neighbor's tree is obstruction your view, then you can actually refer to the view ordinance which will help you get rid of that tree.

If you need to find out what your rights are as far as planting and removing trees on your property then you will need to check the ordinances with the county and the city. You will be able to find out what your rights and the laws are by contacting city hall and if your town doesn't have one, then call the county office for a jumping off point. If there are not regulations in your area about trees then you will have to get the community involved. If you want to put tree ordinances into place then it will take more than just your voice. Once you have enough people then you can go to the city and get some ordinances in place to keep your town beautiful, and your yard free of obstructions.  

More on Christmas trees!

How to Keep a Live Christmas Tree Healthy pt 2

source: http://is.gd/IpzAuu

If you are like many people you like to have a real, live, Christmas tree during the holidays. Many people get frustrated that their tree doesn't last very long. Here are some tips that will keep your tree healthy for a longer period of time and how you can also keep the tree safe during the holiday season.

Buy a Fresh Tree

When you buy your Christmas tree, try to get a tree that has been recently cut so it’s as fresh as possible. Ask at the garden center or other place you buy your tree from about the condition of the tree. If you buy an older tree it will dry out quickly and you won’t get as much use out of it. Look at the needles on the tree before you buy and avoid trees that have a lot of brown spots as this indicates an older tree. Get the tree as green and as fresh as possible.

Water Often

Make sure the stand on your tree never gets dry. You’ll need to provide your tree with plenty of water which will help it from drying out. If needles are falling frequently this is an indication that the tree is too dry. The tree stand should hold at least one gallon of water for best results. Make sure you recut the tree about an inch above its base which will help it to absorb the water properly.

Avoid Overloading

Don’t overload the branches in ornaments as this can make the tree unstable. You want to be sure that you avoid putting ornaments on the weaker branches or just put on very light ornaments. Don’t put a heavy angel on the top of the tree unless the tree tip is very strong or it will break.

Avoid Lights That Get Hot

Most lights today don’t get hot but if you have some older ones these will still heat up quite a bit. LED lights are perfect for a live Christmas tree and you should use these. Make sure candies aren’t anywhere near the tree and don’t put any on the tree. Never use traditional real candles on your tree as this is just not safe at all.

Keep Away From All Flame Sources

Don’t put the tree near any heaters or by the fireplace. Even one stray speak that occurs when you move the logs around can ignite the tree. Make sure the tree is away for all heat sources. It’s a good idea to have a fire extinguisher nearby just in case you run into problems.

Keep Pets and Children Away

Make sure your children understand that the Christmas tree is not a toy and they can’t play around or near it. If you have pets make sure they are kept away from the tree at all times. You can use a gate if you wish.

Enjoy your Tree

You can enjoy your real live Christmas tree if you are cautious with it in your home and take steps to protect the tree and take steps to reduce the fire hazard.

How to care for your Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree Guide

Up here in Ohio it's starting to freeze. Matter of fact, it feels like it's freezing in my house right now. You know what that means. It's almost Christmas time! Many of you will decorate with a nice big beautiful Christmas Tree. So for those of you that prefer live trees, this is a short guide I put together to help you decide which one is best, how to get it home, and how to keep it green all winter long.

A – Obviously you're going to need to clear a space for it. So do that first. Tip: don't ever put a real tree near a source of heat. Especially a fireplace. You'd be surprised how many people think it's preferable and lose their home because of it.

B – Getting a healthy tree could make all the difference in how good it's going to look. So when you're out shopping for your Christmas tree, follow these guidelines for picking the right one:

• Make sure you measured right and you buy the right size. This may sound redundant but if you get it home and have to cut the lower branches off or hack the top off, it might look a little... diseased.

• Look for signs of unhealthiness in the tree. If it's got a lot of brown on it, try shaking it a bit or dropping it about one foot onto the stump and knock all of the dead needles off. This will also keep the needles from falling off at home and making a mess. Many tree farms have a “shaker” that does this for you, if you'd like. Don't be too concerned about a tree looking bare on the inside, this is normal.

Putting your tree in its stand

A When you choose your tree and get it home, the first thing you're going to want to do is cut about an inch off of the trunk. That will give you a nice fresh piece of wood that will take up water better as it's not dried out and dirty. If you don't have a saw available, you may want to ask the tree service where you bought it to do this for you. Do not cut it into a V or at an angle, this does not actually help the tree get more water, and it will also prevent you from getting it in the stand level. It is also untrue that drilling a hole in the base helps it take up water. Please avoid these wives-tales.

When putting the tree into the stand, there are a few things that you should do that you've probably never heard.

• Try to use the correct size of stand if possible. The better suited it is for your tree, the better the tree will fit, stay healthy, and stay green. A big mistake commonly made is scraping the bark off to make it fit in a stand that's too small. This is obviously not going to help the tree stay alive. Quite the opposite, actually. The outer layers of a trees bark are the most productive at water uptake. So they need to stay intact.

• Any fresh cut tree will still be taking up water after it has has been cut down. The common formula is each tree will take up about one liter of water a day per inch of trunk diameter. Keeping it watered is more important than you might think. If you let it run completely out of water, it could instantly change the amount of water the tree will actually take up. So keeping enough in the stand at all times is a must. Always use COLD water, and don't bother using chemicals. It's more hazardous than it's worth.

I will be making another post this week that will give you necessary information on how to make sure the tree is safe enough to keep in the house. 

How to mulch like a pro!

How To Use Mulch

Do not. Ever. Use this much mulch.

Many people don’t understand how mulch can impact the health of your garden. Mulch is important to the health of your plants as it helps to retain the moisture in the soil and cut down on the amount of weeds you have around your plants.

How Much Mulch Should You Use?

To determine how much mulch you need take the length and width of your garden and then multiply this by the height of the mulch which is going to be about 3 inches. This will give you the total cubic feet that you need for your mulch. Since mulch is sold by the bag you need to divide the total cubic feet by the number of the cubic feet of mulch ion the bag.

• If the mulch is sold by the yard you’ll divide the total cubic feet by 27 since there are 27 cubic feet to one cubic yard.

There are online calculators you can use to help you figure out the amount you need and even calculators for your mobile devices. Use these if you can’t figure out the exact amount to sue or ask at your local garden center.

Spreading Your Mulch

Try to spread around three inches of mulch on the ground. As you do this a few times the mulch will build up so if you already have a lot of it on the ground use about 1 inch of new mulch. You can also remove the old mulch if you want and start again with fresh. If there’s too much mulch on the ground this can trap too much moisture and rot can set in as not enough water will reach the roots of the plants. Don’t pile the mulch near trunks of trees or shrubs as this can cause insect, fungus and rot problems. You should spread the mulch by hand as you can control how it looks. A shovel can help you move mulch from a wheelbarrow to the garden area.

Benefits of Mulch

• Mulch inhibits the growth of weed
• Helps keep moisture in the soil so plants don’t dry out as quickly
• Helps prevent fluctuations in the soil temperature
• Protects roots from the cold in areas where frost cаn be a problem
• Keeps roots cool in hotter areas
• Can provide some nutrition to plants as mulch breaks down

Mulch Dangers

• Rubber or tire mulch can damage the soil by leeching chemicals into it
• Cocoa mulch can be dangerous to pets, especially dogs
• Too much mulch can damage trees and plants. Rot can set in as well as diseases
• Mulch can present a fire danger if it dries out too much in hot sun

What Mulch Not To Use

• Wood – Some wood mulch can contain chemicals and dyes
• Rubber or Tire Mulch – This mulch can contaminate the soil with chemicals
• Decaying Leaves – Perfect breeding ground for weeds and seeds can germinate creating more weeds

Ask Your Local Garden Center

Your local garden enter can provide more information on mulch. This is a great way to take care of your plants.

How to plant a tree

How to plant a tree

You might think planting a tree is pretty self explanatory. Well, for the most part, it is. But there are a few steps you should take to make sure that it's done correctly and to make sure your tree will thrive after planting.

1. Digging

• You will want your hole so that the rootball is 2/3 the size of the hole. (ie: if the rootball is 20 inches wide, make sure your hole is 30) This will give the rootball a nice barrier between it's own soil and the soil it's about to go into. Make sure the hole is deep enough for the rootball PLUS a few inches. This will be explained in the next step.
• Height: you will want the ground level of the hole to match up with the trunk where it flares out and forms roots. An easy way to do this is to measure your rootball, bottom to flare, and lay your shovel across the hole so you can see exactly where the flare needs to be. burying the flare too low can cause all sorts of problems, mostly root rot which can damage the tree, sometimes severely.
• Once the digging is complete, raise the bottom of the hole a few inches in the shape of a mound. This will give the rootball a little pedestal to sit on. The reason this is important is because of watering issues. If you dig a typical hole thats lowest point is in the center, then you drop your tree in the hole, excess water will gather right at that point and could drown the tree. So this mound is meant to create almost a moat-like protection from flooding.
• If you have tough, packed dirt or clay, scoring the sides of the hole with a rake, shovel, or just your hands will help the tree adjust from its current soil to it's new soil. With highly compacted ground, the roots may try to keep growing in the soil it came in because they can't penetrate the ground. This scoring gives them a nice transition into their future dirt.

    2. Prepping the tree

• Depending on the size of the tree, these instructions will tell you what steps you will need to take before planting
• Large trees usually come wrapped in a burlap sack, which is pretty simple to remove. YOU MUST have the hole dug and ready before you unwrap the tree. Exposing roots to sunlight and wind for too long can cause the roots to girdle, dry out, and sometimes die completely. So, the faster you get it in the ground after unwrapping, the better. 
• Small trees can come wrapped, but mostly will come in a pot. Same deal as above, but its easier with smaller trees. most of them you can just tip right out of their pot and put directly into the hole.
• Once the tree is out of its bag/pot, set it immediately into the hole and give it some water. About a gallon for every foot of height.

     3. Planting the tree

• So far we've dug the hole, scored the sides, built up a little pedestal, and set the rootball right in the center of it. Now you need to start packing in the topsoil you dug up. You want to avoid any weeds, turf, or any other object that isn't plain old dirt. When filling the rest of the hole with dirt, try to keep it somewhat loose. Packing it in hard can choke off the tree or make it hard for the roots to extend. After you get the dirt in, give it another good watering. 

     4. Just about done!

• Some things to remember:
• Mulch/compost can benefit your new tree in many ways. The obvious reasons being that it helps keep a more constant moisture level and prevents weed growth. Some not so obvious ones: mulch will also make it unnecessary to weed whack around the tree, which is important because those little knicks you put in the trunk can harm the tree more than you think. The mulch will also help airflow in the ground. without grass or weeds growing, the soil can stay somewhat loose. This will help the tree by allowing more nutrients to stay in the soil around the tree.
• Staking: Newly planted trees DO NOT always need to be staked. Unless you have wind or soil erosion issues, odds are you won't need to stake it. Any more questions about staking, please read my last article

And last but not least, enjoy watching your new tree thrive!

pictures courtesy of:

duaemanus.blogspot.com/2009/04/planting-fruit-trees.html

dnr.state.oh.us/Home/education/howtoplant/tabid/5114/Default.aspx

How to properly stake a tree

How to properly stake a tree

Good work!!

Staking your tree is a good way to balance it after planting. Most of the time, however, it's not necessary for healthy trees. Staking really only needs to be used when the root ball of the tree being planted is too small to be able to support the top growth. If you plant a tree that you carried by yourself, then odds are high that you do not need to stake it.  Too many gardeners stake a tree that does not need staked, and it can actually cause more bad than good.

Staking trees improperly can cause quite a few problems for the tree in the future. When new trees are staked and unable to sway with the wind, it results in a weaker, skinnier trunk. A staked tree will generally grow taller with a more slender trunk and this can make them more susceptible to breakage and damage when they are finally exposed to the full force of the wind. 

The proper use of staking is to keep the tree from moving too much while the roots are being established. The ropes that go around the tree are not supposed to completely immobilize the tree. That just prevents the tree from reacting to the environment. And even at that, this is supposed to be a temporary situation, a year at most. The stakes should come out after the tree is well established. 

If you are not sure whether you need to stake your tree or not, take a look at the size of the root ball compared to the canopy. The root ball should be 1/3 or greater the size of the canopy. If it's smaller than that you may want to stake it. If not, then it will be fine as is.

Thought I'd post some pictures i took of incorrectly staked trees. If your staked tree looks like these, you're doing it wrong.

Bare metal wire directly on the bark? You're doing it wrong.

What happens if you leave it staked too long? This.

This tie is doing absolutely nothing for the trees stability. It's also wearing the bark off the trunk.

I moved these posts away from the tree and the bark was completely scratched off. Not good.

Fall Pruning

It's finally starting to get cold! I don't know about you but I'm under a blanket as I'm writing this. That means that were getting close to Autumn, and that means it's almost time to bust out those shears, clippers, and trimmers.

You can trim anytime you want, but the best times to trim would be in the spring and the fall. The reason for this is that without leaves covering your trees and shrubs, you can deal directly with branches and limbs. This makes it easier to keep everything nice and tidy. Also it gives you the power to basically tell the tree where you want it to grow out and where you want it to let new growth in. Decorative trimming is not hard to do and just takes a little perspective and imagination. If you're looking for a cheap way to make your yard look awesome, trimming up shrubs like arborvitaes, junpiers, boxwoods and birdsnest spruces may be the best option.

How much did this cost? Probably a day of shaping. Worth it.

With the leaves being off the tree, it may also be easier for you to find any diseased or infected limbs and remove them. This works great with many different tree diseases because there are several diseases that reinfect the new leaves the next year. We don't want that. Not after all the work we've done to keep the diseases at bay. Look for discolored or spotted branches and remove them promptly. This may help get rid of an infection the next year or at least give the tree a chance to fight it off.

Now would also be a good time to increase the structural integrity of your trees. Some tips:

•  when you're trimming branches off not to trim them flush with the trunk. You want to leave about an inch of the only branch there. 
• if you want to stake a tree, the fall is the best time to do it because you can get further into the tree, making sure not to break any surrounding branches with the cables
• trimming off braches that grew irregularly, causing the tree to tip or bend can be trimmed off at "v crotches" along the main trunk. 

photos from nexus backgrounds

Rhizosphaera Needlecast

Rhizosphaera Needlecast

What is it?

Rhizosphaera Needlecast, or Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii, is a fungus that affects spruce trees, most commonly Colorado blue spruce. It usually doesn't kill tree, however it does make them look sick. This is particularly devastating to tree nurseries or Christmas tree farms.

What does it do?

A spruce tree that has no issues will normally keep its needles for around 6 years. When one becomes infected with Rhizosphaera Needlecast, however, it may only hold the infected needles for one year. As with other diseases of conifers, the fungus starts at the bottom of the tree and works its way up. The reason this happens is because the ground under the tree is more susceptible to growing and sheltering diseases than the tree itself. 

It starts off by infecting the new needles in May or June, however it usually will not be noticeable until spring the following year. This is when the needles on the lower branches get a somewhat purplish hue to them (see above picture), then die off and start dropping. The spring rain then splashes the infection onto healthy needles, which restarts the cycle. This can sometimes kill the lower branches of the tree.

Do you have it?

Your first hint at a Rhizosphaera Needlecast infection will be when you see needles that appear to be purple when the sun hits them. The best way to find out for sure if your trees have it is to look at the infected needles under a magnifying glass. If they have hairy looking black spots on them, then there's a pretty good chance you found your disease. These black spots are actually the breeding grounds of the fungus, waiting for the rain to take them somewhere else on the tree. Here's what it will look like:

Photo credit: ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3059.html

How to manage it:

As always, the best form of control is to know the disease before you buy a tree that might have it. If it's already in your yard, you're going to have to do a little more than that.

• If you have several spruce in your yard and only one of them is infected, make sure that you trim that tree last. The disease can be transmitted to the healthy trees just from the clippers. If you must trim your infected tree, be sure to trim that one last. Afterwards, sterilize your tools in a bucket of denatured alcohol for about 5 minutes.
• Try to keep the tree as healthy as possible. This includes vertical mulching, irrigation and aeration.
• Chemical: Since  Rhizosphaera Needlecast is a fungus, an applied fungicide could do wonders for your tree. Brands such as Daconil 2787 and Bravo might just do the trick for you. If you are goping to do it yourself, make sure to read all of the warnings and instructions. 
• Or you could always call your local tree care specialists.

Fire Blight

Fire Blight

Signs of Fire Blight on a Pear tree.

What is it?

Fire Blight is a disease that usually attacks Apples and Pears. It's caused by a bacteria that survives the winters in branch and trunk cankers(1). Once springtime rolls around, the bacteria begins multiplying once the temperature is above 65 degrees.

Infected trunk of an Apple tree

Do you have it?

You can sometimes see the white, liquid bacteria oozing out of cankers on the tree. It is called Fire Blight because of the symptoms it causes. It will look like the leaves, flowers, and small twigs have been scorched away. You'll usually notice the symptoms rather early in the year.

What does it do?

The infection starts in tip shoot tips and moves downward all the way to the trunk. The leaves will start turning brown or black, depending on the type of tree it is. (apples and crab apples usually turn brown, pear trees look black.) The disease will also infect fruit. This next picture is an apple infected with fire blight.

That's bacteria seeping out of it... gross.

The areas most commonly affected are the open flowers in the spring. It sometimes stays local to a certain part of the tree, but sometimes will spread to other areas. It can kill susceptible trees and even if it doesn't kill it, it can severely disfigure it. Once the tree has fire blight, it stays forever.

How to manage it:

Fire Blight can be avoided by planting certain types of trees that aren't affected by it. For example, if you want to plant a pear tree, you would want to avoid Asian and Red pears as they are the most susceptible.

If you've already got the trees then there are some tips to preventing the infection from spreading.

• Do not use excess nitrogen fertilization
• Do not prune if you can help it
• The tree should not be irrigated during the bloom cycle
• If you see an area that is showing symptoms of blight, remove and destroy it immediately
• With no cure known yet, the recommended spray to help would be a Copper blossom spray. It stops new infections, but it's detrimental that you cut the old infections out as best as you can.
• These sprays should be applied the entire time the tree is in the blossom stage, and should be applied when the temperature is above 60 degrees. Do this every 4 to 5 days until the bloom is over. This could mean as many as 12 treatments in one year.
• When trimming out infected areas, make SURE you clean your clippers after every snip. A bucket with 10% bleach in it will be fine.
• The best times to trim is in the summer and winter. During these seasons the infection has stopped reproducing and is dormant, thus making it easier to find the infection and destroy it.

(1) A canker on a tree is a small or large portion of dead bark that was killed during the previous years' infection.

Scab Disease

Scab Disease

Thanks to SPSnet

We've covered a lot of bugs in this blog, now let's tackle diseases.

What is it?

Scab disease is a fungal infection that harms and sometimes kills many fruit trees. Among the most susceptible are apple trees and crabapples. The main cause of this disease is a wet, cool spring. The fungus could come from surrounding trees or from a previously unknown infection on the tree the year before.

Little early to look this bare, eh?

What does it do?

The way it spreads: The fungus is intoduced to the plant by spores coming off of leaves on the ground from the previous year. The rain releases the spores which may end up on the living leaves of the tree. Once it gets on the leaves, it penetrates through to the susceptible tissue under a film of water. Then the fungus makes a different kind of spore and spreads to the rest of the tree, causing several health issues including:

• Dark areas on the leaves which can be purple, black or green and sooty or risen on the leaf itself
• Heavily damaged shoots will start dying back
• leaves turning yellow, often resulting in premature leaf-drop
• Budding hampered, sometimes the buds will turn black and hang on, even though they're dead
• "scabbing" on the fruit itself, making the fruit look rotten, cracked, or just plain inedible

Scabbing on the leaves of an Apple tree. 

This disease can make your trees look horrible. It changes the color of the leaves, makes them wilt, and often makes the leaves drop far before they are supposed to. It will ruin the fruit or make it drop before it's ripe. Not to mention, it's just unsightly to see a wilted, brown and purple, half covered tree.

How to manage it:

• The best way to deal with Scab Disease is, of course, to not have to deal with it at all. If possible, buy varieties of trees that are resistant to Scab disease. If you already have the trees, read on...
• To slow it down you can make sure that when the leaves drop, you get them cleaned up and destroyed as soon as possible. The dead leaves are what infects the new leaves the following year, so making sure they're gone will lower the risk of high infection. 
• The best approach is to hire a local tree care service to spray the trees with a fungicidal spray twice in the spring. This kills off the fungus and also may help keep other bugs from attacking the tree. These applications on average are one of the cheaper ones to get. 

Pictures thanks to: majestictreecare.com/Majestic_main/WebLinks/services.html

Gypsy Moth

Gypsy Moth

What is it?

The Gypsy Moth is another species of pest that was brought to the U.S. by accident. Since it's introduction, it has devastated much of the eastern states and caused roughly $868 million in damages. Starting as an egg being laid anywhere with protection during late fall, they hatch in the spring.

The larvae stage

What does it do?

During the first three stages of it's life (seperated by molting and growing in size), the larvae feed on the leaves of their host tree. In the first stage, they take tiny bites out of the leaves, just as much as they need. In the second and third stages they eat the leaves, from the edges to the center. This is the time that they are most damaging to hardwood trees, especially Oak trees. You usually won't see them active during the day unless the infestation is very dense. On minor cases, they feed on the top of the tree at night and rest during the day. If there is a large amount of them infecting the tree, you may see them active all hours of the day. In early to mid June they start building a cocoon. Usually these are located in bark flaps, under branches, basically anywhere providing good protection. When they emerge 7-14 days later, they are fully matured adults. They have now become the moths that we all know and hate. The males emerge first, and fly around look for a mate. The females (in most species) are flightless. Once the females emerge, they emit a pheromone to attract the males. After reproduction, they both die. And so the cycle repeats.

Adult male Gypsy Moth

Adult female Gypsy Moth

How to manage it:

You're best bets are killing the egg masses that you find on the trees or in some cases, anywhere else that provides protection. Destroying one egg mass can kill up to 1000 potential caterpillars. But there are actually a few ways to get these guys:

                                               

Hire an exterminator. Usually your local tree care professionals know how to deal with them and when.

Buy a gypsy moth trap. They can be pricey, but the may be worth it. 

Short on money? Luckily there's a few homemade tricks you can do to help:

Wrap duct tape around the tree at chest height, then smear "tanglefoot" on the duct tape. The caterpillars can try to cross it, but they wont get far before they get stuck.

Wrap some burlap around the tree and spray it with insecticides. As they cross it, it will soak into their bloodstream and kill them.

Using burlap again, wrap it around the trunk and flip the top half down, creating a barrier for them to rest during the days. Each day, go lift the flap and kill whats under it. This is the cheapest method, and works decently well.

Big thanks to http://www.gypsymothalert.com/control.html for the pictures and methods of removal!

Aphids

Aphids are some of the most destructive pests in your average landscape. Since they have spread worldwide, it's possible that you might have them in your garden. In this post I'll help you figure out if you have them, and I'll tell you how to kill 'um.

The Aphid (pictured above) usually only feed on a specific type of plant, depending on the species. There are some species, however, that will eat hundreds of different kind of plants. Without being an expert on them, odds are that you won't know what species is attacking your growth. Aphids feed on sap. Sap, although appearing to be a slow moving liquid, is actually under high pressure which after being punctured by the aphid forces it into the bugs food canal. If the feeding itself doesn't stress the plant, the virus's that they introduce in the process sometimes will. To get to the sap, Aphids have long, sharp mouthparts that allow them to pierce the soft parts of the plants. Below is a picture of an aphid feeding on a plant, showing the mandibles piercing a stem.

Aphids are most damaging between 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit. This would be the best time to see if you've got them on your plants.

KEEP IN MIND: A small level of Aphids on your plants is actually normal, as this pest is very widespread. It's when there is a mass of them causing damage that the plant can't keep up with that you need to take action to have them removed. 

How to tell if you have a damaging level of aphids:

• Curled, yellow, or distorted leaves
• gall spots
• Stunted shoots
• honeydew on leaves (a fluid produced by the aphid)
• when looking for the aphids themselves, look on the underside of the leaves or inside curled leaves

Now, how to get rid of them:

Biological controls include parasitic wasps that mummify aphids after laying eggs inside of them. If you see this happening, there's a good chance the aphid population will be decreasing in the next few weeks. Another natural predator is the common ladybug. They feed on the bugs while the bugs are feeding on the plants. This is good because it interrupts big outbreaks.

Mostly, the best option for control is insecticides. There are several brands available to take care of Aphids, but they are sometimes specific about the type of plant it can be used on. Make sure you read the label. Or you could always call your local tree care company and have them take care of it!