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Insects on shrubs and ornamental trees

The shrubs and small trees in Midlands landscapes have their own set of insects. Most of them are easiest to control at one short stage of their life cycle, and a spray at the wrong time does little. This page covers five groups that Clemson Extension writes about for South Carolina landscapes.

Why are my camellia leaves yellow and white underneath?

That can be tea scale. Clemson describes yellow splotches on the upper leaf surface and cottony white masses on the undersides in heavy infestations. The females are tiny, dark and oblong, and the males are white. Tea scale also attacks hollies and gardenias.

Two things trip people up. Contact sprays can't get through the waxy scale covering, so they only work on the crawlers, the newly hatched young, and Clemson says contact sprays usually fail because of timing. And Clemson notes imidacloprid products don't effectively control tea scale. Clemson's timing is horticultural oil in late winter or early spring, repeated at five- to six-week intervals, or a dinotefuran treatment in early spring or early fall.

Why do my azalea leaves look speckled and pale?

Azalea lace bugs feed on the undersides of leaves and leave pale stippling on top, with black specks of waste and shed skins underneath. South Carolina gets three or more generations a year, roughly spring, midsummer and fall, and azaleas in full sun get hit hardest. Clemson recommends checking leaf undersides from early spring through fall and treating when the first lace bugs appear. It also warns that repeated carbaryl or imidacloprid can set off spider mite outbreaks.

What is the white crust on my crape myrtle bark?

That is likely crape myrtle bark scale, which shows up as white or gray waxy scales on stems, branch crotches, pruning cuts and trunks, often with black sooty mold. Live scales release a reddish fluid when crushed. It was first confirmed in South Carolina in 2019, and it is still spreading. Crawlers peak from mid to late April through May, with a second peak in late summer. Clemson's treatments are a dinotefuran soil drench in spring as new growth starts, or a spray in late April or May and again in late summer.

Why is there black soot on my gardenias?

Black sooty mold grows on honeydew, the sugary waste of whiteflies and aphids feeding on the plant. Whiteflies look like tiny white moths, and aphids are small, soft, pear-shaped insects clustered on new growth. Wiping or spraying the mold doesn't solve anything; Clemson says the mold clears once the insects are controlled.

What are the little bags hanging on my junipers and Leyland cypress?

Those are bagworms. The caterpillars build carrot-shaped bags from silk and bits of the plant, and Clemson notes they often go unnoticed until significant feeding damage has happened. Eggs hatch in late April to May, and Clemson says treatment works best shortly after hatch, while the larvae are small. In fall, winter or early spring you can hand-pick the bags before the eggs inside hatch.

How does Spring Green treat shrub and tree insects?

Our tree and shrub program is four visits a year: a horticultural oil spray in January for scale insects, a deep root feeding with fertilizer and insecticide in February or March, and insecticide-and-fungicide sprays in May or June and again in July or August.

Last updated 2026-09-25. Spring Green is owned by Stockton Wells.