Lime tree problems....

longtimelurker54

Hey

Hope this is the best board to post this - hoping to attract some knowledgeable gardeners,

We have lime trees planted on the verge outside our house. They're nice trees but such a nuisance as we have to park beneath them and the whole car, especially the windscreen gets covered in this nasty sticky mess which is really difficult to clean.

Please does anyone know how long and at what time these trees produce this sticky mess?

We're new to the house so don't know but are thinking we might be better off parkin somewhere else if this is a seasonal thing?

What's the best to remove the mess from car?

Or maybe we could find some cheap throwaway car covers?

Many thx!

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It's not the lime trees producing the sticky mess but the aphids.

waterwatereverywhere

Thanks for the reply - does anyone know whether the aphids causing the mess are seasonal i.e. will it stop any time soon or will it go on for the whole spring/summer? It's really terrible on the car and we're seriously wondering whether to even bother washing it at the mo....seems pointless!

morg_monster

I think it pretty much continues for as long as the trees have leaves :-( I used to park my car under trees like this every day for nearly a year. Over the summer I didn't bother to wash the car at all, like you said its such a pain. But on the other hand, it took a few washes to get rid of all of it once I stopped parking there, so it might be better to keep washing it regularly even if it isn't clean for long. You might want to find somewhere else to park, covers would be quite a pain I would think, but probably depends how often you use the car.

waterwatereverywhere

Thanks morg monster - you're confirming what I feared!! Think it's going to be a scrum to see who can park in-between the trees from now on... it's a busy road though so will have to explore around the corner I think! Only noticed how sticky it was when I went to use the window wipers and for a while they wouldn't move before juddering relucantly into action!!