Herself’s Houston Garden

I received an email forwarded from GardenLine ( which has no webpage I could locate ) saying not to worry about the webs appearing on your trees.

I noticed them last year, they seem to like my yaupons. In the morning you go out to the garden and find your tree has been covered with a very fine web that goes up the trunk and perhaps along some branches. Often it happens in just a day.

I’ve been removing it by running my gloved hands along the web to open it and spraying the tree with orange oil. When it is too high to reach we’ve been using the garden hose to clear it off the tree.

However all accounts say one should not worry about bark lice. They cause no damage. In fact they are a cleaning crew for your tree. They each fungus, lichens and other debri from the bark.

More information:
Bark Lice: A Pest of Oak Trees
Yaupon Holly