dendrite

Thanks...def looks like oak borer longhorned beetle.

Wtf is this?

Except July 09.

That's why I asked about permethrin. I have the powder and liquid on hand here as I use it on my chickens to treat for mites. I know it's deadly for bees and other insects too so I try to be careful where I put it. If I'm not directly treating a bird's vent, I put it in their dustbathing bins. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/homeowners/040925.html

I know that wasn’t there when I planted the tree a month or two ago. How quickly can they reach those mammoth sizes?

Thanks for the advice all. Wish we could get some 40s in here...looks like torch mins for a few days.

What do they do if you plug the hole? Just dig out?

I have some liquid permethrin, but I've read that will take a couple of minutes to kill them...sounds like a recipe for getting stung while waiting for them to die. My sister is allergic to yellowjacket stings, but I've never been stung. I'm not too excited to jump in there.

It's right next to my newly planted tulip tree. I really don't want to kill the tree.

Lisa got a pic. Guess I was wrong in the dim light last night. Looks like yellowjackets. Nuke’em?

Definitely not bumblebees and pretty sure not yellowjackets. Had more of a subtle yellow/black abdomen and not the vibrant yellow of a yellowjacket. I'll try to get a pic today.

No berries that I could see. One of them has maybe a 2-3" diam trunk.

Not that tiny. Maybe 1/2"?

I have a lot of that invasive glossy buckthorn stuff too, but these 2 trees look different.

One more Q... Anyone got an ID on this? The leaves look very leathery.

So yeah...found a bee nest on the edge of my lawn in the backyard. They look pretty active flying in and out of the hole in the ground. I like me some bees so I don't want to kill them. What do we have for ground nesting bees around here? They almost looked like honeybees, but I didn't get a great look since it was 8pm. Is there a humane way to get them to set up shop elsewhere?

Looks like you have it mulched well. I’m not sure it needs daily watering at this point. Stick your finger under the mulch and into the ground. If the top 1-2” is dry maybe give it a deep watering and wait a few days. If it’s moist...just leave it. They’re a shallow rooted plant, but they don’t like to be overwatered either. I had a cherry tree lose all of its leaves last summer after I planted it in the spring, but it put out a little new growth in September and then came back fine this spring. So you’ll probably be fine.

Overwatered maybe?

Now that you mention it I remember ID'ing that a couple years ago. I picked some seeds off of it and it definitely matches pics online. I now have no more room in my yard, but I need a basswood. lol

Interesting. Oak apple gall wasps. Mind blown.

Can anyone ID this seed? I don’t think it’s related to the leaves here, but idk for sure. It’s thin walled and hollow except for a little spikey seed. I have some at my house too, but idk which tree they come from. I thought it was a beech, but I guess those produce actual nuts? I know the leaf on the right is the basswood, but I’m unsure about the one in the left. I think it’s from a bushier/smaller potential tree and not a large deciduous.

Anyone got any good and safe trap ideas for cabbage worms? Also...a little update on the plan for diversification of the gm american chestnut trees I've been talking about. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10061

How low do you cut it in the spring/now? Hell, I probably would've just let it grow out of control right through warm season this year until any weeds start growing above it and then keep it cut at 4". That looks like all dirt and crabgrass.

Thanks...that definitely looks like it. I had no idea what those looked like.

Can I get an ID on this? Is this big toothed aspen? I know older trees can get the rippled bark, but one of these looks kinda young for that. It seems to be flowering/putting out a lot of seed now. Tree 1...branches/leaves Tree 1...bough is the tree on the far left Tree 2...parent tree is in the back. Related youngin’ in the front Tree 2...parent. Lots of flowering up top? Tree 2...zoomed flowering at crown