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Integrated pest management is the discipline of treating only what needs treating. Instead of putting every tree on a standing spray contract, we monitor, identify the insect, decide whether the population is actually above the level that causes damage, and then choose the least disruptive method that will work — cultural change, a targeted foliar application, or a systemic trunk injection. It costs less over time and it keeps beneficial insects on your property doing free work for you.
Free on-site consultation · We treat on threshold, not on contract
Four steps, in this order. The order is what makes it integrated pest management rather than a spray schedule with a nicer name.
The first step is knowing what you have. Damage patterns are frequently blamed on the wrong insect, and a good share of the calls we get turn out to be old damage from a population that has already collapsed on its own.
A few tent caterpillars on a mature alder is not a problem worth treating. The same population on a young ornamental is. We set a threshold for the specific tree and its value to you, then act when it is crossed.
For insects inside the wood, or high in a canopy that ground equipment cannot cover, systemic injection puts the treatment where the insect is feeding with no drift — see tree injections.
For surface feeders, mites and overwintering stages, a timed foliar application or a dormant oil is the lighter-touch option — see tree spraying.
What is present in the South Puget Sound is not what is present in the Midwest or the South. The list below is what our arborists actually diagnose across the service area.
| Insect | Hosts here | Treatment options |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze birch borer | Birch | Systemic injection. Native to the region and a leading cause of ornamental birch decline |
| Emerald ash borer | Ash | Systemic injection. Confirmed in Washington for the first time in 2026 near Vancouver; not reported in King or Pierce County |
| Douglas-fir beetle | Douglas-fir | Prevention and stress reduction; attacks follow damage and decline |
| Sequoia pitch moth | Pine, spruce, Douglas-fir | Cultural — avoid wounding the trunk during flight period. Chemical control is unreliable |
| Spruce aphid | Spruce | Injection or foliar, on monitoring |
| Balsam woolly adelgid | True fir | Narrow timing — crawler activity in western Washington begins late April to early May |
| Cooley spruce gall adelgid | Spruce, Douglas-fir | Largely cosmetic. Washington State University recommends no chemical control, and we will not sell you one |
| Western tent caterpillar, fall webworm | Alder, cherry, fruit, ornamentals | Physical removal of nests, or targeted application at early larval stage |
| Birch leafminer, pear sawfly, elm leaf beetle | Birch, pear, cherry, elm | Foliar, on threshold |
| Oystershell scale, spider mites | Many hosts | Dormant oil, then growing-season treatment only if warranted |
| Cypress tip miner | Arborvitae, cedar, cypress, hedges | Timed to adult flight |
Every insect on this list is documented in western Washington. Some of them, as noted, are best left alone — that is a legitimate outcome of an inspection.
Broad, repeated spraying kills predators and parasitoids alongside the target insect. Those beneficials were suppressing the next outbreak for free, and when they go the pest population frequently rebounds harder — which sells more applications, but does not help the tree.
Repeated exposure to the same material also selects for resistance in the surviving population, and mites in particular are known for it. Rotating method and material, and skipping treatment entirely in years when monitoring says it is not needed, keeps the tools working.
Most importantly, a large share of insect damage on a healthy tree is cosmetic and the tree outgrows it. The trees that genuinely need intervention are the stressed ones, and the underlying stress — compaction, root damage, drought, buried root flares — is usually the thing worth spending money on first.
If an inspection concludes your tree does not need treatment, that is what the report will say.
It means the decision to treat is driven by monitoring rather than by a calendar. The insect is identified, its population is compared against the level that causes real damage on that particular tree, cultural options are considered first, and a treatment is chosen only when it is justified — then the least disruptive effective method is used.
Usually less, over a few seasons. A standing contract bills for applications whether they were needed or not. A monitoring-led program skips the years and the trees that do not warrant treatment, and it avoids the rebound outbreaks that follow from repeatedly killing off beneficial predators.
Eradication is not the goal and usually is not achievable. Native insects are part of the system here and low populations do no measurable harm. The goal is keeping populations below the level where they damage the tree, which is a very different and far more achievable target.
Holes in a trunk are worth taking seriously, because the common causes lead to very different outcomes. Round or D-shaped exit holes with fine sawdust mean a wood-boring insect has already been inside the tree — those holes are where adults left, so the infestation is older than what you are looking at, and nearby host trees are usually at risk as well. Pitch or sap masses on a conifer mean something is boring into the trunk and the tree is responding; telling a minor trunk borer apart from a bark beetle attack is the difference between monitoring the tree and losing it. Neat horizontal rows of shallow holes are sapsucker feeding rather than an insect, but repeated wounding opens the trunk to decay and to secondary insects. Have it looked at before deciding anything: the identification determines whether the answer is a trunk injection, treatment of the surrounding trees, or removal.
Yes. Boxelder bugs breed on the seeds of boxelder and other maples, then move in large numbers onto warm south- and west-facing walls in fall and work their way indoors. Treating the host tree while the bugs are still on it, ahead of that migration, is what actually reduces the numbers you see later — once they are on the siding, treating the tree no longer helps for that season. Our applications are made to the tree, not to the structure. Where one seed-bearing tree is producing the same problem every year, we will say so plainly and give you the option of treating it or taking it out.
Method choice is largely about exactly that. Trunk injection has no airborne component at all, which is why it is the preferred method on tight urban lots and along property lines. Where a foliar application is the right tool, it is applied under conditions that limit movement off the target, and applications are cancelled in wind.
For a tree on a monitoring program, typically once or twice a season to inspect, with treatment visits added only when monitoring calls for them. Trees under active injection treatment often go multiple years between applications.
Treatment is quoted per tree after an on-site inspection — species, trunk diameter, the number of trees, and access all change the number. The consultation and the written quote are free.
Because integrated pest management is monitoring-led, the first visit is an inspection rather than a treatment, and a real possible outcome is that nothing gets applied. Where treatment is warranted it is priced by method and by tree size. Underlying stress is often the better-value fix — see fertilization and mulching and tree pruning.
Every certification number below links to that arborist’s credential record with the International Society of Arboriculture, so you can verify it before anyone sets foot on your property.
Washington L&I Contractor License PACIFA*813KG · WSDA Pesticide Applicator #109480 · $1M liability insured
Describe the tree and the damage, and attach photos if you have them. An ISA Certified Arborist will identify what is actually there and tell you whether it warrants treating.
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