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Friend or Foe?

februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 523
in Problem solving
I've discovered what looks like some kind web/cocoon in a crack in my Victoria Plum.



It wasn't there when I winter washed the trees a couple of weeks ago. My first instinct is to blast it out with the hose but I thought I'd best check first in case it was something beneficial.

Any ideas what it is? 
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Posts

  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 20,094
    It’s a bit difficult to get an idea of the scale from the photo, but I think it’s two things. 

    I think the round hole has been made by a hibernating carpenter bee and the silk web is maybe hiding a spider.
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • BenCottoBenCotto RutlandPosts: 3,599
    I have trouble enough dusting the house so how you find time to dust the garden as well astonishes me. Surely it’s just a spider that can be left to its own devices.
  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 46,064
    Dusting? What's that @BenCotto ?  :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 523
    @pansyface A spider would be fine and I'd love for the round hole to be a carpenter bee.

    @BenCotto Dusting in the garden? That's never gonna happen 😂 I barely have time to dust at work and I'm a cleaner! A spider is my hope as I don't have to worry about that doing any damage to my Victoria plum. I'm more than happy to let anything stay that doesn't leave a path of destruction in its wake!

  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 46,064
    I'd be more worried about the enormous crack in the bark  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 523
    @Fairygirl I asked the tree surgeon about that last week when he was round to take a look at my hawthorn and he said it was nothing sinister. He did explain it using terminology I got the gist of but I'm not familiar enough with it to be able to repeat on here, Cambrian something or other 😂 Personally I think it was exacerbated because I was a little inconsistent with watering last year but he didn't seem to think it was a factor  🤷‍♀️
  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 46,064
    That's fair enough then @februarysgirl. It's hard to see the scale as pansyface said :)

    I certainly wouldn't worry about the spider, or the bee, if @pansyface's correct. They wouldn't cause any problems to the tree   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 27,561
    Cambium @februarysgirl.  A layer of growth underneath the bark.  This link gives a simple explanation of what it does - https://www.fs.usda.gov/learn/trees/anatomy-of-tree 

    Damage to the cambium or the phloem and xylem layers either side can cause problems, hence @Fairygirl's comment.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 523
    edited 11 February
    @Obelixx Where on earth did I get cambrian from 😂 
  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 46,064
    Or perhaps you've been in 'Cumbria' recently @februarysgirl ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


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