Tree Banding Service in Charlotte, North Carolina

Tree Banding Services

For Tree Banding in Charlotte, NC and the surrounding areas call one of our Certified Arborists today! 704-989-0515

What is Tree Banding?
Tree Banding is a service that our company offers during late Fall in order to prevent Cankerworm from making their way up into the canopy and consequently spreading to other trees. The process involves wrapping your trees with a non-toxic sticky substance called Tanglefoot that will not allow the female moth to pass over the band and lay her eggs in the canopy of your tress. The bands are left on your tree for the entirety of the migrating season of the cankerworm, which will significantly decrease the chances of your trees becoming infested with cankerworm larva in the spring. We recommend that the bands be removed every following Spring season, as leaving the banding on for long periods of time can cause harm to the trees.

 What is a Cankerworm and how does if affect trees?
The fall Cankerworm in a wingless moth that is native to North America. After mating, the female crawls up the tree to lay her eggs. In the spring when the tree produces leaves, the eggs hatch, leaving small green caterpillars to feed on those leaves. Although the bugs will not kill the trees on their own, after many seasons of defoliation, the tree can weaken, which leaves the tree susceptible to other stresses, such as age, disease and other insects.

Why should you band your trees?

Charlotte has a history of severe infestations of cankerworms, that for the last 30 years, have continued to grow. When natural controls were no longer able keep the population of cankerworms from spreading too rapidly, the City of Charlotte started a banding program on street trees and funded a series of aerial spraying that has helped to reduce the population. They have also asked the community to cooperate with the initiative and to band their own trees every year. Because the larva (caterpillar) spin silk webbing that allows them to swing from tree top to tree top, it is very important to band all of your hardwood trees to reduce the chances of the female moth from reaching the canopy.

How much does tree banding cost?

The cost of each tree that you would like to band depends on its size and the number of trees that you would like to band on your property. The more trees that you band, the lower the cost will be per tree. By hiring a trained and certified Arborist, you can ensure that the proper techniques are being used to band your tree and that the health of your tree will be maintained. By using a shrink wrapping rather than applying the base with staples, you can be assured that no remnants will be left in the tree after the band removal and that the health of your tree remains intact. We recommend removing the banding during the Spring, which is also included in the total cost. The materials that we use are all non-toxic and environmentally safe to use around a family home.

For our complete list of tree services, click here.