Every grower of Fraser fir Christmas trees in western North Carolina has had to deal with pest damage.
Pesticides can minimize damage, but only when applied properly.
At times, the use of a pesticide may even increase damage by allowing other pests to reproduce without checks from natural predators. It also means that the groundwater and streams are less likely to be polluted by fertilizers and pesticides. It has never been possible to eliminate all pests, nor is it necessary since low levels of some pests are tolerable. The aim is to maintain pest populations at less than damaging numbers. The pest level at which a tolerable amount of damage occurs is called the treatment threshold.