SPOKANE, Wash. — After the city removed nearly 200 pine trees from public parks and golf courses due to bark beetle infestations, Spokane homeowners need to know how to protect the pine trees in their own backyards.
Spokane is surrounded by beautiful pine trees everywhere you look, but they’re all at risk from a tiny enemy called bark beetles. These “tiny but mighty” culprits target ponderosa pines and can do significant damage.
“They bore in through the bark, then that the tree’s natural defense is to produce a lot of sap and pitch, to try to force the beetle out and seal up those holes,” said Mike Bond, service manager arborist at Spokane Tree Pro…