Tuesday, August 14, 2012

What Gall!!!....

So, just recently I was having fun pulling weeds in the veggie garden.
It was a normal HOT summer day....with a bit of humidity.

{Don't you love doing those chores on days like that?}

So, I took a short break, for a some water and to catch my breath.

This is where I do that.
Like every area here, this has a name.  It's the Garden Grove....because it's by the Veggie Garden.

Looking up into the Live Oaks trees above my head, I saw this.

Looking closely, you see these little bead kind of things.
There are thousands of them in the Live Oaks around here.

They're almost pretty.  But, I knew they weren't normal.  

So, I did some research.
I found some information at the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension site.

Seems this is Gall, and it's caused by insects.  Probably a type of wasp.
Wow!  There must have been a swarm, that we didn't see.

According to this site:


"....gall on oaks typically do not kill an established oak.
If galls are localized or limited, it is possible to remove the galls for aesthetic purposes.
Otherwise, do not worry too much about it."


I read one other thing that said it occurs more often on trees that are stressed.
The trees around here have been really stressed, from the drought.

I worry a lot about the trees.  They're one of the big reasons we love this place.
But, looks like I don't have to lose sleep over this one.

Back to pulling weeds.
Say...why is it, weeds grow so well, when other things are just barely hanging on?

Another garden mystery.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

8 comments:

  1. We've had galls off and on for years and it doesn't seem to bother the trees at all.

    The weeds are a puzzle for sure. They grow so well in such hostile places.

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  2. We have one tree in particular that is always covered in galls. Its trunk has some damage and I always wonder how long it has. We dearly love our trees too and I just hate to think of my yard with out them. Two years ago there were so many insects around that canopy that you could actually hear the buzz! That was the year that finally prompted me to do a little research too. I've got my share of weed pulling to do over here too...garden mysteries abound.

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  3. Linda our minds are working in close harmony here. I just checked on whether to worry about the increase in leaf galls on one of our oldest oaks out back. The galls seem to have killed off a percentage of the leaves and that tree (like every other tree in our area as you noted) has surely seen enough stress in the past two seasons.

    Weeding....ugh. So much of it to do and so few hours cool enough to get away with doing it! A couple of cooler cloudy days sure wouldn't hurt those efforts. Hell, a couple of cooler cloudy days sure wouldn't hurt, period.

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    Replies
    1. Amen, on cooler, cloudy...maybe even rainy...days.

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  4. Yes, I've seen similar things - nature is fascinating and out of our control!

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  5. I ask myself that about the weeds every time I'm out there in the heat yanking & cursing!

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  6. Looks like we all agree on the weeds. I guess they've always been a pain to gardeners.

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  7. All our native oaks have galls - never seen any problems, either. But those chairs under your oaks - still must be great to sit there, coffee in hand, before the Death Star rises up to torment all living souls?

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~~Linda...