Rewilding My Lot

I was away from the garden for ten days and a quick scan when I returned suggested that most things looked pretty happy.

However, one thing that I would have caught earlier had I been here was another batch of Genista Broom Moth (Uresiphita reversalis) caterpillars eating new leaves on my little Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) tree.

Texas Mountain Laurel trees produce a toxic chemical that deters most generalist herbivores. However, Genista Broom Moth caterpillars are immune to this toxin and thus have no competition. They prefer to eat the tender new growth areas, which are the parts of the tree responsible for overall growth and preparing for next year’s blooms. The new leaves that I saw forming before I went on my trip have gone.

This caterpillar activity won’t kill the tree, but given how much I want this young tree to do well, my choice is to remove the caterpillars to minimize damage. Since the tree is small (not even waist high yet), it’s a fairly easy procedure to pick off the caterpillars and fling them into another part of the garden. If the tree were bigger, then another approach would be a high pressure hose to knock them out of the tree. When I’ve had infestations before (it happens every few months), I can usually eliminate the caterpillars in about three days. There are more this time than usual, but I think the timeline will be about the same.