Archive for the ‘Problems in the Garden This Week’ Category
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
This week Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting many reports of wilted newly planted trees and shrubs in areas where regular heavy rains have saturated the soils (too much rain actually drives oxygen out of the soils and without that, the roots cannot function properly – same can happen to annuals and perennials), peach leaf curl showing up on, yes you guessed it, peach leaves (sorry, too late for control – need a dormant spraying of fungicides), bolting (flowering) of broccoli plants due to high temps / too early planting / exposure to cold weather too long early / planting plants that are too old / even severe drought, Canada thistle with white tops (thanks to a beetle eating the leaves), anthracnose on maple, leaf spot on hickory, botrytis on lilies, carpenter ant swarmers, oakleaf skeletoniozers on, yes once again you guessed it, oak leaves, oak leaf galls galore showing up on, come on you can do it, oak leaves, conifer bark beetles ‘shotholes’ in the bark of dying or dead, come on say it, conifers (which by the way, the bark beetles are secondary – the conifers were dying from something else), mites on arborvitae, earwig populations reported seem higher than usual this spring, White pine weevil damages now showing in the tops of, of, of, yes, white pines, and last but not least, above average rainfalls are also increasing the mosquito populations in many areas. Remember that after a female mosquito gets a drink of your blood, she then searches for a stagnate pool of water to deposit her eggs (can be as small as a tablespoon of water). The eggs hatch in 3 days; those larvae grow and pupate in 7 -10 days, which means adult mosquitoes emerge at the end of the 2 week cycle. They live about 3 weeks, as the females look for another drink of blood to start the process all over again. Bottom lines – get rid of standing water in your yard and immediate surrounding areas, and protect yourself with proper clothing and mosquito repellents. The traps and sprays would the next options to try.
APPLY GRUB PREVENTERS TO THE LAWN NOW IF NEEDED.
-Catch the Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday at 8:42am on 55KRC The Talk Station.
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
This week Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting scarlet oak sawfly eating red oak leaves (they like to try other types of oaks), hawthorn and oak lace bug adults laying eggs, dusky birch sawfly feeding on, yes, birch leaves, four lined plant bug damages showing up on many types of herbaceous plants (small round black sunken spots), nostoc balls (blue green algae) on turf soil surfaces, red thread and leaf spot continuing to hit lawns hard, crabgrass is now being seen in many thin areas of lawns, dollar spot showing on turf, and a note that if your lawn is looking a little pale, a number of factors can cause this now, including extensive rainfall, rapid growth, heavy seed head production, lack of fertilizer, cutting grass that has gotten excessively tall, etc. Late May and early June may a good time for a fertilizer application to the lawn if lacking in soil nutrients.
It’s Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week! Learn more: www.emeraldashborer.info
-Catch the Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday at 8:42am on 55KRC The Talk Station.
Poisonous Plants showing up in landscapes! Over the past few years, a couple of poisonous weeds have invaded our natural areas as well as the landscapes. They’re wild parsnip and poison hemlock, and could be confused for each other, as they show up along roadsides, streams, pastures, edge of fields and woods, and even in our landscapes.
Wild parsnip – It’s a biennial, meaning foliage the first year, foliage, flowers and seeds the second. Wild parsnip has leaves that alternate, pinnately compound, with sawtooth edges. They grow 2-6 feet high, and support small, five petaled yellow flowers arranged in an umbel spanning 2-6 inches across. Now although wild parsnip roots are edible (but do not eat them), it’s the plant juice that can cause “phyto-photo-dermatitis” when it gets on your skin and is exposed to the sunlight. Your skin gets red with a rash that’s 20 times worse than poison ivy, and eventually turns brown in color which can last for several months.
Poison hemlock – Yes, the same poison used on Socrates! Again, a biennial like parsnip, poison hemlock grows 4-10 feet tall, leaves are pinnately compound and fernlike, with white flowers that have five notched petals arranged in an umbel 2-3 inches across. Very similar to Queen Anne’s lace, poison hemlock is distinguished by the purple spots and blotches along the stems. All parts of the poison hemlock are toxic to humans and animals.
Controls for these toxic weeds include hand pulling before they go to seed (protect your skin), repeated mowings, or spraying with weed killers in the lawn or Roundup in open areas – and spray when they are smaller in size. Remember, the goal in stopping them is to get rid of them before they go to seed.
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Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting fire blight on ornamental pears, maple petiole borer causing the annual raining of maple leaves, roseslugs feeding away on rose leaves (see below), hawthorn leafminer on, yes you guessed it, hawthorn leaves, continued reports of leaf and stem galls showing up on, yes, you guessed it again, leaves and stems, boxwood leafminer adults now flying around, yes you are good, boxwood, Eastern and Forest tent caterpillars moving across lawns, driveways, etc, pearleaf blister mites on, wow you are on it today, pear leaves, powdery mildew appearing on grass blades, perennial leaves, lilacs, etc, and Ky. Bluegrass and Tall fescue now forming seed heads in the lawn (doesn’t last too long).
-Catch the Buggy Joe Boggs Report Saturdays at 8:42am on 55KRC The Talk Station.
Rose Slugs Eating Rose Leaves – “What is eating all the holes in the leaves of my roses?” Great question when you see rose leaves having either window pane type holes or complete holes in the leaves, but no bugs to be seen. Well, the reason the bugs aren’t being seen, is 1.) They’re very small and the same color of the leaf, and 2.) They’re feeding on the undersides of the leaves! Rose Slugs – The critter is called a rose slug, yet rose slugs are not slugs at all. They’re actually in the sawfly family, and there have been different types seen, ranging from 1 to multiple generations each year. They look like very small caterpillars (at the early stages are very hard to see), and typically feed on the underside of the leaves, causing the window pane effect from the younger rose slug larvae, to large leaf holes to total leaf skeletonization as the larva mature.
Control for Rose Slugs: 1.) Hand smashing the rose slugs as you can find them on the undersides of the leaves (look early morning). 2.) Repeated foliar sprays as needed, using Insecticidal Soaps or Horticultural Oils, but making sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where the rose slugs are feeding, not the tops of the leaves. 3.) Apply a systemic insecticide such as Bayer’s 3 in 1 Rose Care or Bonide’s (or Bayer’s) Tree and Shrub Insect Control, where the insecticide is taken up inside the plant and the sawfly larvae are killed as they feed on the leaves. Try to apply the systemic before damages are seen (at plant bud break), but can be applied later. Note: The foliar sprays are usually most effective for most immediate control, but a combination of systemic and foliar sprays work quite nicely. Remember, there may be several generations of the rose slug, so be persistent with the methods of control as you see the damages occur. And although the damages certainly make the rose plant’s leaves look bad, it rarely affects the overall health of the plant, especially those Knock Outs. They take a rose slug lickin’, but keep on tickin’.
Tags: rose slugs
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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
This week Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting clover mites appearing indoors (yech), needle blight on Austrian pine, fire blight on ornamental pears, sooty mold on pines, ticks now appearing and showing up on the dog (and maybe you!), Forest caterpillars repelling down silk lines from many different types of trees (they have white spots on their backs that look like foot prints where as Eastern tent caterpillars have stripes down their backs and Gypsy moth caterpillars have 5 pairs of blue spots with 6 pairs of red spots), spring cankerworms tattering leaves (singing “shattered, shattered – I’m in tatters”), May / June beetles now buzzing back porch lights at night, spiny witch hazel gall aphids causing river birch leaves to become corrugated, boxwood psyllid nymphs have emerged and covering themselves with white flocculent material (that’s fancy for white cottony stuff – I think Joe makes up these words), and would also like to remind us that heavy frost close to the day of broadleaf weed killer applications, may result in reduced herbicide efficacy, Bet you didn’t know that, did you?
-Catch the Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday at 8:42am on 55KRC The Talk Station.
[Joe's mom taught him about several things, including REASON - "Because I said so, that's why", OSMOSIS - "Shut your mouth and eat your supper", and LOGIC - "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."]
Emerald Ash Borer adults are emerging – protect your Ash trees! With the Black Locust now blooming, it is a sign the time is right for the EAB adults to begin to emerge from ash trees, and begin mating and laying new eggs. Now, they don’t all emerge at the same time, but will start soon and will continue to emerge over the next couple months. So, be sure to have your EAB protection in place on the ash trees you want to save. For smaller ash, do it yourself with Bonide or Bayer Tree and Shrub Insect Control. For larger ash, I would suggest having the professionals either soil drench or inject the preventative. Using ‘Tree-age’ as a trunk injection, it may protect your trees for up to 3 years and maybe 4! For more info, visit our website at www.natorp.com. But do it soon!
Tags: clover mites, emerald ash borer
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Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
He’s back! Buggy Joe Boggs has pupated and is now airing out his wings and is ready to fly through another season of bugs and diseases – with maybe a few weeds tossed in. This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting multiple sightings of those ever buzzing, scare the dickens out of you, Carpenter bees (remember the male has no stinger), as well as reports of ground dwelling bees up and at ‘em, white pine weevil adults have begun or will begin feeding on the central leaders of white pine, Colorado spruce, as well as other pines, spruce and true firs, Eastern tent caterpillars have begin to hatch, European pine sawflies will be hatching shortly, and a quick reminder to inspect evergreens now, for those pine cone like hanging bags, which would be bagworms. By physically removing them now, you can help prevent outbreaks when they would normally hatch around late May / early June. Also having many reports of lesser celadine invading lawns, landscape and wooded edges (waxy leaf / yellow flower), hairy bittercress, chickweed and henbit growing like weeds in lawns, landscape beds, and just about anywhere there is an ounce of soil, large patches of clover in lawns, and yes, the beautiful yellow flowers of dandelions beginning to appear in lawns as well.
[In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. -Margaret Atwood]
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
It won’t be long for Buggy Joe Boggs to come out of hibernation and begin his buggy report, but until then, The BugDoc (David Shetlar) has already begun his 2010 reports! BugDoc is reporting many inquiries about a “lady beetle looking insect” showing up on window sills and walls in the home right now, as well as cluster flies and bluebottle flies. The beetle is indeed a lady beetle, but as the Doc reminds us, is no “lady”. This non-native beetle, although a superior predator – which is why it was introduced here in the first place – has turned out to be a real nuisance indoors and out. Research is now finding out that these beetles are also eating native lady beetle eggs and larvae! And yes, they can take a ‘nip’ on human skin (unlike the native beetles). Oh yeah, we’re also finding out some folks are allergic to them (from either their secretions or the fungi that grow on them if they die inside). Nice, huh? As for the flies, they just over wintered in your walls and attics and now they want outside. Of course, not until they buzz your face a few times to get your attention. Thanks BugDoc for the report.
By the way, I had several calls and emails last week with concerned gardeners wondering what the dust like substance was that was coming off of their Japanese yews (Taxus). They were all pleased to know that it was nothing more than ‘yew pollen’. Yes, they are in flower right now (small brown buds inside the plant) and that is the pollen flying around. As a matter of fact, as I was pulling into the post office parking lot Sunday, the Taxus hedge there was being moved by the wind, and it looked like the plants were smoking! Pretty cool stuff.
[Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.]
Tags: japanse yew, lady beetle
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
Nothing bugging yet, but it won’t be too long. This year, make a promise for 2010 and beyond that when a bug problem arises, we identify the bug, determine amount of damages possible and whether action is actually needed, and then what the options are for control or suppression, all the while, keeping the good bugs in mind, including those precious bees. Promise?
Now is the time for dormant sprays if needed, as well as getting close to soil drenching with Bonide or Bayer Tree and Shrub Insect Control, for controlling problems with scale, leaf miners, adelgids, borers, and more. Yes, that includes treating Ash trees for the Emerald Ash borer, and pines and other evergreens for White Pine Weevil. It’s a bit wet (soil) right now, but timing is soon. As always, read the labels and follow the directions.
Check your houseplants for bug problems. Just looked at a ficus tree with scale and mites! Don’t forget that your indoor plants would love a few minutes in the shower. Luke warm water – they love a good rinsing. Gets rid of the dust, knocks off bugs, and the plants love the humidity and the shower itself.
May joy and peace surround you, contentment latch your door, and happiness be with you now and bless you evermore.
Tags: Bugs
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Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
As the snow melts away, many folks are noticing white / beige patches in the lawn. Not patches of dormant warm season grasses and weeds, but actual melting out of the blades. More than likely, what they’re seeing is snow mold. Although we experience it every now and then, it’s not all that common in our area, or usually not a big issue – more so further north where more snowfall and longer periods of snow cover happen. There are different types of snow mold, but the bottom line is this. If you are experiencing this in your lawn, basically you’ll need to rake out the spots, fluff up the area, and see if it re-grows. If not, you may possibly need to reseed the areas / throw in a little starter fertilizer as well. Sometimes the spots (after raking) will green up and fill in on their own, but in many cases, will require a little extra help. Unusual for us in southern Ohio, but all the snow fall in February set up the lawns for possible snow mold problems. (And yes, all our grass types can be susceptible to snow mold – some selections are more resistant than others.)
Talk about weird problems in the garden, this week, we have discovered that a squirrel is literally chewing the thick plastic handles off of our garbage can! That is either one deranged squirrel, or he is working on having razor sharp teeth. WOW!
[What a cruel idea it was to put an "s" in the word "lisp".]
Tags: lawn
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
So, do you know how to get the best out of the plants you’re growing? The first step is having the right soil conditions. You know the saying “you are what you eat”? Well, the same can be applied to growing plants. Do you know the fertility of your soils? How about the pH? If not, then now is a great time to have your soil tested. So, how do you go about having this done?- If you live in Hamilton Co, the Hamilton County Soil & Water is offering residents soil tests for only $10 (www.hcswcd.org). – Check with your local OSU Extension office or grab their great tip sheet for you to learn more and find soil testing labs (www.ohioline.osu.edu – click on Yard and Garden – Soil Management). -Scotts offers soil testing at www.scottssoiltest.com. Or visit your local garden store and purchase the soil test kits available for home-testing. These won’t be as detailed findings as the others, but will give you a general idea about your soils. Whichever way you decide to go, go! Have that soil tested so you’ll know what your soils may be lacking, or what needs to be adjusted. Your plants will be glad you did!
[If a man with no arms has a gun, is he armed?]
Tags: soil, soil condition
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Problems in the Garden this Week
The problem in the garden this week is simple. Spring is still a few weeks away. But guess what? You can bring spring indoors early. One of the easiest ways to bring spring indoors during late winter is to force the stems of spring flowering plants into bloom for indoor display. These spring bloomers have gone through their cold weather requirements and should bloom indoors given the right conditions.
Three of the easiest to force are forsythia, flowering quince, and willows. And the process is simple. Take cuttings from your spring bloomers, generally 18inches to 3 feet long. Place the cuttings in a large vase or container filled with luke warm water.
Place the vase in a sunny location and then begin misting your cuttings once a day with luke warm water. Also, be sure to check the water in the container, to make sure it’s fresh. If it’s cloudy or smelly, replace it with new water. Using a floral preservative in your water may help keep it clearer.
The forsythia will probably bloom the quickest (takes about a week and a half), with the quince taking about 2 weeks or so. And the willow, well it’ll pop out within a few days, and after a couple weeks, guess what? They’ll even begin rooting in your vase!
Now just about any spring flowering plant can be forced indoors – fruit trees, ornamental pears, redbuds, mockorange, honeysuckle, even dogwoods and magnolias. So, if you’re getting tired of waiting for spring, head outside, and bring spring indoors a few weeks early.
[No one is listening until you make a mistake.]
Tags: spring bulbs, spring bulbs indoors
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