If you spend enough time looking at and working with plants, you’ll inevitably come across galls. Galls are abnormal growths and can be caused by a variety of different organisms, including insects ...

Q: Small shoots from the ends of branches with leaves on them are dropping from my oak tree, but it doesn’t have any galls on ...

What are these blister-like things on the leaves of my oak tree? Will it harm them? P.T., Tulsa The structure on your leaves is a common oak leaf gall and will not harm a mature tree. Galls are ...

Question: We have been raking up some leaves from our oak tree. As the kids looked at some of the leaves, we noticed large bumps and some were very distorted. After observing the leaves, we looked at ...

Persisting in the winter months as ball-shaped shells on oak trees, galls, which are considered an eyesore by landscapers in the summer months, appear as a sort of curiosity in winter. What are these ...

Q: My red oak is about 10 years old. Some of the leaves are starting to look distressed, so I looked closely. I noticed small red ants climbing up and down the trunk, almost as if they are harvesting ...

Dear Reader: These are galls that have resulted from the stings of the tree tissue by a small wasp as she lays her eggs in the current season’s growth. Oaks are host plants to scores of different ...

Galls are abnormal growths on a part of the plant. They can be caused by bacteria, insects, mites and fungi. They can be on any part of a plant and are the overgrowth of plant tissue in response to ...

Q: The leaves on my newly planted oak tree have numerous holes, and the edges of the leaf are missing. I do not see any insects, but I am worried about the tree. Most of the tree is like this. A: Oaks ...

This sounds to me like your witch hazels have galls. Insect and mite galls are common on trees and shrubs throughout the Chicago area and are generally nothing to be concerned about. Leaf galls rarely ...

Fears had been raised that prolonged hot and dry conditions this summer - a so-called false autumn - would prompt the premature shredding of leaves and early ripening of fruits. Those concerns appear ...