Not everything that emerges in your yard with warmer weather will be good. In addition to buds and blossoms, insects will make their entrance – and bring with them the potential for damage to your deciduous trees.
You can head off potential insect damage by spraying your trees with horticultural oil while they’re still dormant, before spring foliage appears. As soon as the temperature reaches 40 degrees, use a product to control scale insects, red spider mites, and mealybugs on many fruit and shade trees. This dormant-season spray suffocates overwintering insects and their eggs before they become active and cause damage. Just mix the product with water and spray the tree branches and trunk, thoroughly wetting the bark.