redbud damage - Ask Extension
our 2 flamethrower redbuds both have leaves being eaten by something we can't identify. No bugs or caterpillars visible. What is causing this and what...
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redbud damage #871354
Asked June 03, 2024, 3:26 PM EDT
our 2 flamethrower redbuds both have leaves being eaten by something we can't identify. No bugs or caterpillars visible. What is causing this and what can we do about it?
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
The majority of this leaf damage is not from a chewing insect or any pest; it's just physical damage, perhaps from the leaves blowing up against those dead twig tips in the first photo. Those leafless twig tips can be pruned off, but otherwise no intervention is needed. The more tidy, semicircular cut out of the edge of the leaf (visible in the first photo) was probably created by a leafcutter bee, a native and valuable pollinator that uses pieces of leaves to wrap-up their young in a nest they stockpile with pollen. No serious damage is done by the bees and the leaf injury is not harmful to the tree.
Miri
Miri