Bagworms hatch in early May and once this happens trees and shrubs can suffer as these small, voracious worms eat foliage and needles while they build a bag around themselves during the process. They aren’t easy to see and most folks don’t even realize they have a problem until it’s too late. Foliage becomes sparse and shrubs are stripped of their needles. Many small pinecones suddenly appear, hanging on plants that don’t even have pinecones! But it isn’t a pinecone, it’s a bagworm that has spent the summer building a protective bag around itself that pesticides can’t penetrate.

At this point it’s too late to spray but if you apply insecticides early enough they are easily killed.  Applications made in May and June can control this pest and if you had them last year, you can probably expect them again this year. So get out there and look for the small gray to black worms as they crawl along the branches of your ornamental plants before they build their protective bag. They seem to prefer arborvitaes, Leyland cypress and junipers but can be found on almost every landscape plant in your yard including Japanese maples and blueberries!