When Drippy Trees Attract Danger

Are bleeding oaks some sort of sign? Or just a miserable driveway mess that attracts stinging insects? On this week’s You Bet Your Garden, we’ll reveal the surprising causes of excessive sap from oaks and other trees. Plus: organic answers to all your growing questions.

Question of the Week:

We recently moved into a home with a lot of trees, including a large oak that wonderfully shades our house and driveway in the summer. However, over the past few days, sap drippings (or something else that is oily but clear) have appeared all over the cars, sidewalk and driveway under the tree; and it’s is attracting bees, wasps and hornets. It’s becoming a hazard to try and get into our cars or enjoy our front yard. Our five-year-old daughter and many of the neighborhood children play right in front of our house; and she and one other girl were stung by ‘bees’ over the weekend. Is it normal for trees to drip so much sap that it attracts bees? Do I have to ban my daughter and her friends from the front yard?
—Steve in Rockville, Maryland

What to do about this drippy tree? »