A blast of water should help control aphids

Q: After waiting for the “last storm” to materialize, I couldn’t stand it and decided to break out the garden hose and water my trees. While moving the hose from one tree to my piñon, I noticed quite a lot of bugs on the tree. They are clustered just where the needles attach to the wee branches. The bugs are slow moving and some have transparent black wings. I know I should treat, but I feed the birds and in the morning my birds hang out in the piñon a lot. I certainly don’t want to hurt them. Help! How do you think I should proceed to protect both the piñon and my birds? — S.B., Albuquerque

A: First to consider, and I agree with you, is the birds. On the next pretty day that you feel up to tending the tree, here’s how I think you can.

What I’m going to suggest is that you feed as per usual in the morning and then at about 10:30 a.m., maybe 11, go out and pick up all the feeders. If your birds are like mine the majority have flown away by then, perhaps leaving a few stragglers, to find the next place to feed. Be sure you take down all the feeders and any water trays you might have set about, I mean, get every single bird feeding apparatus you have offered to your birds.

Move them well away from the area, perhaps even consider placing the lot of them in the trunk of your car. You want them stowed away from where you’re going to be working.

Now, if you don’t own a hose end sprayer, you’ll want to invest in one. Be sure that it is multifunctional and can spray hard streams of water along with the usual fan spray.

Once you have picked up all the bird attractions, and with you puttering about near the tree, the birds should go away. Attach your garden hose to the spigot and then attach the sprayer. Turn on the water and spray the tree, from top to bottom, inside out, soaked to dripping wet, making sure to hose down the whole trunk with the hardest stream of water the tree can stand. Your goal here is to disrupt the clusters of aphids, knocking them to the ground. Once you’ve taken a good deal of time, making sure the whole of the tree has been sprayed, you’re done.

Let the tree dry and then later the same afternoon go ahead and replace the bird water dishes and everyone will settle. By knocking the aphids off the tree to the ground, you’ll have beaten them up so much that they won’t have the strength to get back to the tree. They expire, and that’s a good thing. In a couple of days, inspect the piñon to see if you missed far too many and the numbers of aphids are unacceptable.

So, now you have to make a decision, treat chemically or do the water only spraying once more to get that upper hand. If you decide to advance to chemical, I’ll recommend applying a horticultural grade oil pesticide. Any nursery worth its salt will carry this product. It’s the safest pesticide you can use, in my opinion. The same plan stays in effect, though. Feed the birds in the morning, pick up and stow the feeding and watering trays, and then, using the recipe on the pesticide label (no, more is not better!) run it through the sprayer, again getting the whole tree soaked to dripping wet. Consider spraying the ground surrounding the tree too, as that certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Then wait a couple of days to check on the bug populations. If you’re not satisfied with the horticultural oil’s effectiveness, you could ramp up pesticide strength once more, considering applying a insecticidal soap-based pesticide. I’m confident that if you knock down as many of the aphids with the hard stream of water first and then treat with a horticultural oil as the next step if needed, you’ll gain the upper hand on the aphids keeping your piñon healthy. Just remember to tidy up all the bird attractants first before you treat.

Happy Diggin’ In on this first weekend of spring 2025!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.