Hello, I am new! I have a few questions about my tulip trees. I have 3 of them and they are huge! Anyways, i love to be outside and garden. Well this year i can not. It is always "raining" sticky stuff outside, leaves are falling and they are a sticky mess that get stuck to your shoes, car, house, everything! I know i have aphids there a billions of them and i am not joking. plus there are little green like spiders all over too. i am not sure if they are eating the aphids or what. But these crawl all over you if you are in the yard. It looks as if the trees are dying. What is causing all this mess this year? Are the aphids killing the trees causing the leaves to fall or are the aphids here for another reason... we have lived in this house for 6 years and this is totally te worst year yet! We always experience they trees dropping some leaves in July and end up raking the yard once. But this year we have raked 4 times. I have included pictures of the tree, leaves, aphids. thanks!
if you wanted to pursue chemical control of the aphids consider a systemic insecticide such as Dimethoate.
Aphids love tulip trees here in Vancouver. In some years, one can walk under a street tree planting of a tulip tree and you can hear the crunchy-rip sound of the bottom of your shoes separating from the sticky aphid dew on the sidewalk.
Although the grass is green it's possible the trees need to be watered, that would explain the premature leaf drop commencing in July. They certainly look like they have gotten dry in the pictures. Aphids may be attracted to plants under drought stress.
