Q: My wife and I recently purchased seven acres in Union County. We’ve planted several hemlocks. How do I prevent wooly adelgid attack?  

A: Wooly adelgid, a sap-sucking insect, has killed thousands of hemlocks in north Georgia so I can understand why you’re worried. You are faced with yearly application of a systemic insecticide to each tree to prevent infestation. The recommended chemical is imidacloprid (click for sources).

Your local expert on adelgid control is Union County Extension agent Mickey Cummings. His office loans citizens a soil injector tool that can be used to put the chemical into the ground around your hemlock trees.