LIPA

[ladyc]

Something is eating the leaves of my lipa (linden). What should I do?

[joasia72]

Take a picture and put on forum

forum.gazeta.pl/forum/71,1.html?f=638
Joanna

[tram_ktos]

Could You possibly write a little bit more about the tree?
How old is Your linden? Is it a small or a big tree?
Is it a wild variety? Is it grafted on some stock?
What percentage of the leaves are affected?
Can You see any insects on the leaves? If so, please try to describe them.

Best greetings

[ladyc]

Sure. Our linden is minimum 50 years old and very large. It was planted by the
original owners of our house and it isn't grafted. This season it was trimmed
by a professional tree-trimming company and before that it was last trimmed (as
the neighbors can remember) more that 20 years ago. All the branches with
leaves are new, young branches. I cannot see any insects but the leaves look
like swiss cheese. All the leaves are affected :( It's so sad to see such a
great and old tree in such a condition. My husband just said that there are
very little black caterpillars on the tree. Help!

Thanks

[tram_ktos]

To begin with, I am not an expert, but I can write to You what I think about
the problem.
I am quite shure that the leaves are eaten by the caterpillars. Since Your tree
is pretty big, I wouldn't panic. I suppose the caterpillars will not be eating
the leaves during the whole of the spring and summer. If I were You, I would
try to get in touch with people connected with forestry ('Lasy Państwowe' - The
National Forests) or botanical gardens. I would ask them if it was dangerous
for the tree and if there were any ways of getting rid of the caterpillars. In
my opinion using chemicals is not a good idea, because they kill both harmful
(from our perspective) and beneficial organisms that might be their natural
enemies. Perhaps there are other ways of fighting with the caterpillars, e.g.
burning the fallen leaves during the autumn, installing special traps, etc.
Perhaps there is no need to do anything.
If You agree, I can translate Your description into Polish so that more people
can understand it. If so, please inform me.

Good luck!

[ladyc]

Hi. Thanks you for your advice and the offer the to translate. It would be
great! I'm waiting to see how this tree reacts after all the rainy weather and
if the newer leaves are eaten too.

[tram_ktos]

Za zgodą forumowicza "ladyc" zamieszczam poniżej tłumaczenie.

Coś zjada liście lipy. Drzewo ma przynajmniej 50 lat i jest bardzo duże.
Zostało posadzone przez poprzednich właścicieli. Nie jest szczepione. W tym
roku zostało przycięte przez pracowników specjalistycznej firmy. Według relacji
sąsiadów poprzednio było przycinane ponad 20 lat temu. Wszystkie gałęzie z
liśćmi to nowe, młode gałązki. Nie widzę na nich żadnych owadów, lecz liście
wyglądają jak szwajcarski ser. Wszystkie liście są zaatakowane (to straszne,
jak się widzi takie stare wspaniałe drzewo w takim stanie). Mój mąż
właśnie powiedział, że na drzewie są małe czarne gąsiennice. Pomocy!