Flowering trees like the red dogwood and the magnolia provide beautiful spring and summer blooms and lovely, sweet fragrances too. Unfortunately, when the flowers fade and begin to die, they can attract all kinds of pests and create a mess in your yard. Here are some tips on how you can manage your flowering trees so that there is less mess and fewer flying pests.
Trim Back the Blossoms
As the flowering trees in your yard begin to erupt in full bloom, you should visit these trees daily. Pluck off or trim back any excess flowering branches every couple of inches. The trees only need bees to pollinate some of their flowers to continue growing, which is why you can trim off some of their flowers. This also helps control the drooping and sagging appearance of limbs and the number of petals dropped in the yard when the trees cannot support the excess blooms.
Revisit the Tree as Blooming Season Begins to Fade
The minute you begin to see blooms fade, revisit your flowering trees. Remove the fading blossoms by hand so that you do not have rake them up out of the lawn in a few days. If you remove all of the dying blooms within reach, then you only have to contend with the blooms way above your head. If you so desire, you can hire a tree service to come out and remove the dying flowers from on high. This service can also be performed any time you request that an insecticide be used on the trees, or when the trees have some awkward limbs that need to be pruned back.
Spray the Trees with an Insecticide or Pesticide
If you have a lot of wasps, ants or other pests swarming your flowering trees, you may want to purchase and use an insecticide or pesticide. Spray only the trunks of the flowering trees at first, and then after the flowers begin to fade you can spray the branches. The reason behind this is simple; the trees need the pollinating action of honeybees, but the bees would be affected by the poisons. Ergo, you would not want to kill off honeybees or stunt the growth and health of your trees by harming the bees. Spraying the branches after the flowers have started to die keeps the good bees alive and prevents other flying pests from enjoying the decay of the blooms.
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