Christmas Tree Pests And Weeds
Pine and fir trees, grown purposely for use as Christmas trees, are vulnerable to a wide variety of pests, weeds and diseases. Many of the conifer species cultivated face infestations and death from such pests as the Balsam woolly adelgid and other adelgids. Aphids are another common insect pest. Christmas trees are also vulnerable to fungal pathogens and their resultant illnesses such as root rot, and, in the U.S. state of California, sudden oak death. Douglas-fir trees in particular are vulnerable to infections from plant pathogens such as R. pseudotsugae.
Larger pests also pose a threat to Christmas tree plantations and harvests. Mammals such as deer, gophers and ground squirrels are threats to Christmas tree crops because of the damage they cause to roots and buds. Certain species of birds are also considered pests, among these is the Pine Grosbeak which feeds on conifer buds. Herbaceous weeds, as well as woody plants, also compete with Christmas tree crops for water and nutrients and thus must be controlled by farmers. There are several methods of control, including mowing, chemical herbicide use, and tilling.
Read more about Christmas Tree Pests And Weeds: Insects, Fungal Pests and Diseases, Mammals, Other Pests, Weeds
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“He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas trees.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I saw three ships come sailing by,
Come sailing by, come sailing by,
I saw three ships come sailing by,
On Christmas Day in the morning.”
—Unknown. As I Sat on a Sunny Bank. . .
Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938)
“A tree there is that from its topmost bough
Is half all glittering flame and half all green
Abounding foliage moistened with the dew;
And half is half and yet is all the scene;
And half and half consume what they renew....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“How we love sequestering, where no pests are pestering.”
—Lorenz Hart (1895–1943)
“I am sleepy, and the oozy weeds about me twist.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)