Snails and slugs love to eat plants with tender foliage and fruit. Favorites include seedlings and plants with succulent foliage; they seriously damage basil, beans, cabbage, lettuce, and many other vegetable plants along with dahlia, delphinium, hosta and marigold. Ripening fruits close to the ground like strawberries are easy targets. And they’ll climb trees to …
It’s the time of the year when roses, our national flower, put on a dazzling show, cloaking plants with brilliantly colored, sweet smelling blossoms. Are your plants bedecked with perfectly formed flowers, or by chance do you see what way too many gardeners do come June, roses with petals that resemble Swiss cheese, young buds …
Gorgeous roses are a wonderful addition to any garden. But throw in a few days of spring rain and voila, you might end up with nearly naked plants. This dramatic effect is likely a result of infection by either blackspot or rust, the gardener’s pestilence of wet spring or fall months. Effectively managing these invaders …
A dastardly duo of diseases that can plague your roses Read More »
First you see them, then you don’t. Those glossy new leaves that cloaked the branches on your dwarf fruit tree seemed to disappear overnight! Same with the succulent mahogany-colored foliage on your prize rose plant, and the prickly leathery leaves on a large chunk of your California live oak. What’s up with that? Even your …
Ants on your artichoke plant? Your plum tree or leafy vegetables? They’re a prime indicator that sucking insects are feasting on your plants. There’s a group of soft-bodied insects — aphids, mealybugs, soft scale and whiteflies being the most common, that feed by sucking juices from plants. The direct damage they inflict on the plant …
Don’t let ants ruin your tasty fruit and vegetables Read More »
There are many popular plants in Marin gardens that are not native and that’s usually OK. However there are some that find the environment so wonderful that they can easily grow beyond their desired boundaries and spread rapidly. These plants may be invasive species – learn more about invasive plants and why they are a …
Spring is here and plants are leafing out all over! Do any of your plants have leaves that look dry and crispy? Pale, small and misshapen? It may be the result of unintentional exposure to a weed killer. Plants can be damaged by even a slight amount of spray drift – in your own yard …
Weird looking foliage may be a result of weed-killer Read More »
In early spring, masses of thick foam can coat delicate stems on a variety of plants – they’re spittlebugs. While visually unappealing, they’re generally nothing to be too concerned about. The abundant globs of bubbles are produced by young froghopper larvae as they begin to feed; the frothy mass is thought to serve as protection …
