What's eating my water hickory?

Water hickory is attacked primarily by hickory bark beetles and pecan weevils, which bore into bark and nuts respectively. Squirrels, deer, and birds also compete heavily for the crop. Aphids and hickory gall phylloxera cause leaf and twig deformities. Vigilant monitoring from late summer through harvest is your best defense.

Larvae tunnel inside developing nuts, leaving exit holes and causing premature drop; infested nuts are hollow or rotten inside. Apply kaolin clay or permethrin sprays when nuts reach gel stage in late summer; collect and destroy fallen nuts promptly to break the soil-pupation cycle.

Adult galleries under bark cause flagging branches and dieback, especially on stressed trees; sawdust frass at entry holes is diagnostic. Keep trees vigorous with adequate water during drought; remove and chip infested limbs; avoid bark wounds that attract beetles.

Round, hollow, green-to-black galls form on stems, petioles, and leaves, causing leaf distortion and minor dieback. Light infestations need no treatment; dormant-oil spray before bud break reduces overwintering eggs on small trees.

Nuts stripped from branches before maturity and cached; significant crop loss especially near woodland edges. Use trunk baffles on isolated trees; harvest nuts as soon as they fall; accept some loss as near-unavoidable in most settings.