Please help us identify the problem with our redbud trees! We planted some redbud saplings in the back of our yard two years ago. They have been attacked by deer, rabbits, and now some sort of insect and/or disease. If you zoom in on the first two photos, you can see two different insects. The first is some sort of black insect, and the second is some small green insects. Are these the culprits? thank you for the help!
The mottling looks like a viral attack to me, but that's not much help even if I'm right. If no one answers here with certainty, I suggest contacting OSU extension, maybe there is some local expertise or maybe it is a local outbreak: Ask an Expert | OSU Extension If you do go that route and they answer it, please let us know.
OK, I am really glad you suggested that site. Here is the response: "My first thought after looking at these pictures is heat stress.There does not appear to be any sign of insect damage. I also note the outer edges of some of the photos are a pale greenish colour as this may also indicate water deficiency or lacking of soil nutrients. You may try to increase your watering time by 15 more minutes and if not watering begin to do so to see if improvements occur." We assumed that by not watering the trees (stressing them somewhat) it might encourage them to grow deeper taproots and make them hardier. Who knows? Maybe that worked, but we are watering the trees now, and now know if the leaves start to curl they need more water. growitbuildit claims that redbuds have no taproot. Maybe theirs were pampered too much and never needed a taproot. We had a 20 year old redbud tree that died due to flooding (we suspect - it sat in a puddle for a month) and the autopsy showed it had a very deep taproot - straight down. Generally we don't pamper our trees and we don't pamper our wildlife, including birds. We figure they survived fine without human intervention for millions of years, so they don't need it now. (ok, sometimes we feed the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks our EXPENSIVE garden hose, but believe me, that is not by choice).
