Stop crepe myrtle bark scale before it turns your trees black.
Crepe myrtle bark scale is spreading fast across the Triangle, and it’s ugly: white, crusty scale along the bark, followed by sticky honeydew and the black sooty mold that turns whole trees dark and cuts down on blooms.
This is a specialty of mine. The best approach is prevention — a well-timed systemic treatment that stops an infestation from taking hold — plus knockdown treatment and monitoring for trees that are already affected.
A soil-applied systemic treatment, timed right, that protects the tree from the inside before scale ever gets established.
The scale is only really vulnerable in its mobile “crawler” stage, so contact treatments like horticultural oil (including a dormant application) are timed to hit it then, plus knockdown and sooty-mold cleanup for trees already affected.
All stages can be on the tree year-round, so I scout in spring — especially the rough bark near branch collars — to catch a fresh generation before it builds and the sooty mold sets in.
Healthy, scale-free crepe myrtles bloom the way they’re supposed to, without the black film.
Crepe myrtle bark scale rarely kills the tree, but it makes it an eyesore and steals the blooms you planted it for. Getting ahead of it keeps your crepe myrtles clean, bright, and blooming — and stops it from spreading to the rest of your yard.
Tell me about your yard and I’ll get back to you with a plan and a price — no obligation.
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