Worried about bee activity or allergies around your linden tree?
Because honeybees are attracted in large numbers during flowering season, this can be a concern for anyone allergic to bee stings. To complicate matters, linden trees produce lots of pollen but are often imperfectly pollinated by bees and other insects. As a result, much of the pollen becomes airborne and can trigger allergies in sensitive people.
This is one of the lesser-known linden tree problems, and while it usually affects the immediate area under and around the tree, it’s worth knowing about. These types of issues also relate to common linden tree diseases and health challenges gardeners face.
Understanding these linden tree problems can help you care for your tree while keeping your garden safer and more comfortable.
Why Do Linden Tree Roots Appear Above Soil?
Linden tree root problems, such as surface roots in trees, often happen when the soil around them is compacted. Compacted soil problems reduce the oxygen and space roots need underground, forcing roots to grow near or above the surface. Surface roots in trees are common in urban landscapes, where heavy foot traffic or machinery compresses soil.
While surface roots are natural for linden trees in tough soil, they can cause issues for lawns and sidewalks. Regular aeration and mulch can help manage linden tree root problems by improving soil conditions and reducing root exposure.
For solutions see the file Dealing With Surface Tree Roots
Why Are Linden Tree Leaves Curling or Distorted?
Curling leaves on linden trees are often caused by aphids. Linden tree aphids are small yellow and black insects that cluster on young leaves and stems, feeding on plant sap. This feeding distorts growth and causes leaves to curl, pucker, or turn yellow and wilt.
How do you fix curling leaves on linden trees?
To treat leaf curl, inspect your tree for aphids first. A strong spray of water can remove aphids from leaves. If the problem persists, insecticidal soap or horticultural oil may help. Healthy watering and avoiding overwatering can also prevent stress-related leaf curl.
Do curling leaves mean too much water?
Curling leaves on linden trees are more often caused by aphids than excess water, but overwatering can also lead to stress that makes leaf curl worse.
What’s Eating My Linden Tree?
Linden tree pests can include aphids, beetles, and caterpillars, but one of the most destructive is the gypsy moth. Gypsy moth caterpillars grow from about 1/16 inch long at hatching to about 2-1/2 inches long by the time they become pupae. Mature larvae are covered with black hairs and have five pairs of blue spots, six pairs of red spots along the back, and voracious appetites.
In July, these pests encase themselves in brown shells on linden tree trunks to pupate. Gypsy moth larvae are often confused with the eastern tent caterpillar and fall webworm, both of which make silken tents in trees — gypsy moths do not make tents.
If you see brown egg masses on linden tree trunks, branches, roof eaves, or sheltered spots, this is a clear sign of a gypsy moth infestation. The eggs look like little gold pearls and are sawdust-colored.
Uncontrolled, gypsy moth caterpillars can completely defoliate a linden tree. Knowing what bugs are attracted to linden trees, especially gypsy moths, helps protect your tree from severe damage.
What Are the Symptoms of Linden Borer Damage?
Linden tree pests include several tree boring insects, and borers attacking linden trees are especially destructive. If you’re wondering, “What kind of bug is eating my tree?”, linden borers could be the cause.
Adult linden borers are yellowish brown or olive-colored beetles about 3/4 inch long, with three dark spots on each wing cover. They emerge late in summer, feeding on leaves and shoots before laying eggs in bark crevices.
After hatching, linden borer larvae, slender, white worms about 1 inch long, tunnel into the wood, pushing out sawdust near the tree trunk. These tunnels weaken branches and trunks, causing breakage and allowing disease and decay to enter the tree.
Other borers attacking linden trees include the flat-headed apple tree borer and the brown wood borer. Borer damage to linden trees can be severe.
Once these tree boring insects start burrowing, control is difficult. The best option is to dig them out with a flexible wire or stuff their tunnels with nicotine paste.
Why Are There Holes in Linden Tree Leaves?
Linden tree pests like Japanese beetles can cause serious problems with linden trees. Adult Japanese beetles are ½-inch long, with shiny metallic green and copper-brown wing covers. Their larvae (grubs) are grayish-white, with dark brown heads and lie in the soil in a distinctive arc-shaped posture.
They emerge early in July as beetles and feed on plant and tree foliage, often skeletonizing leaves and contributing to linden tree disease and stress.
If you see holes in linden tree leaves, these pests are a likely cause and should be monitored closely to protect tree health.
Leaves Mined or Blotched on Linden Trees
Basswood Leaf Miner, Both basswood leaf miner beetles and their larvae feed on leaf undersides. The small, reddish-yellow adult beetles eat out leaf tissues from between the veins. The larvae raise large blister-like mines, leading to brown, withering, and falling leaves. This is one of the common linden tree diseases gardeners encounter and should be monitored closely when diagnosing problems with linden trees.
Why Are Linden Tree Leaf Edges Turning Brown?
Anthracnose - This is the most destructive of several leaf diseases that occasionally attack trees. A fungus causes it. Leaf edges begin to turn brown and eventually the entire leaf browns and drops off. Ends of shoots look as if they were frost bitten. Serious attacks may defoliate entire trees. Prune away heavily infected branches. Make every effort to maintain plant vigor by attentive feeding and watering.
Reddish-Brown Spots on Linden Tree Bark
Canker - Several fungi cause pinhead sized reddish-brown spots on the bark of linden branches and twigs. These break through the bark surface, providing access for other diseases and pests to invade the tree. Prune out all cankered branches and twigs and collect any that have fallen to the ground. Destroy them.
White Coating on Linden Tree Leaves
Powdery Mildew - Lindens are quite susceptible to powdery mildew. A fungus that develops primarily on the tops of linden leaves causes it. These whitish blotches form well into the growing season. While this fungus makes trees look unattractive, it is not truly harmful.
Circular Brown Spots on Linden Tree Leaves
Leaf Blight. - This fungus causes round, brown spots with dark edges to form on linden leaves. They are often so numerous that they cause the entire leaf to turn brown and fall off. Young trees tend to be more vulnerable to this disease than older, established ones. Be sure to gather and destroy the infected leaves that fall on the ground.
Brown Spots Along Linden Tree Veins
Leaf Blotch - This fungus usually attacks only European type lindens. It causes narrow pale brown spots to develop along the leaf veins, especially near the tip. Eventually an obvious narrow, black stripe appears, dividing the healthy from diseased leaf tissue. In severe attacks a tree may become defoliated. Be sure to gather and destroy the infected leaves that fall on the ground.
