It may look like an ethereal puffball, really rather pretty, but don’t be fooled. Dandelions are tough weeds! Also known as lion’s tooth, blowball, and monk’s head, it can be a problem in gardens, lawns, pastures, and tree and vine crops. Introduced from Europe where it has been used as an herb and medicinal plant […]
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You bet! Rat poisons or rodenticides are pesticides designed to kill rodents, like mice and rats. They are formulated as baits that include tasty ingredients like peanut butter, molasses, and grains to attract animals. These ingredients can be also attractive to children and pets. Rodenticide baits are not only poisonous for rodents, but they can
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July 16 is World Snake Day: an opportunity to celebrate snakes and raise awareness about their preservation. While snakes are threatened by many of the same issues that affect all wildlife (habitat loss, climate change, and disease), negative attitudes toward snakes may be the biggest barrier to their preservation because it often impedes efforts to
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Summer is here and so are yellowjackets – those one-half to one-inch-long bright yellow wasps with black strips and their signature “narrow” waist. Yellowjackets prey on other insects and scavenge on human food and garbage. They will fiercely defend their nests – in holes in the ground, inside wall cavities or hanging gray paper-looking ones,
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Many gardeners fertilize their yard based on the calendar rather than what is actually needed by the plant. Do you know if the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (main nutrients in fertilizer) levels are actually low? You can save yourself time and money by testing your soil with simple test kits. When you know what is
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Ever see a creepy, crawly, worm-like creature with oodles of legs in your yard or even in your house? Could be a centipede or a millipede. These strange looking critters are not insects – they’re more closely related to lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp, but are land dwellers. They’re most active at night around moist habitats
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Don’t be fooled! This is NOT a green ladybug! The cucumber beetle is a common pest that feeds on the vegetable gardens and may also attack ripening stone fruit, although it’s not fussy and can be found in many parts of the yard, even on roses. These beetles may spread cucumber mosaic virus or wilts
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Seeing leaves on your fruit trees rolled up like a sandwich wrap? Could be leafrollers, a family of insects that attack the leaves of fruit trees like apples, pears, and peaches. They also target some ornamental trees like ash, poplar, and oak. Leafroller larvae feed on tender, new leaves, giving them a ragged appearance; they
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Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. This video highlights a news broadcast on the first Earth Day more than 50 years ago. While the message is bleak for the time, the good news is that a lot of progress has been
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Ever heard of “right place, right plant”? Following those four little words can help you grow healthy plants that thrive, decrease diseases and pests, and may cut down on the time you spend in watering, pruning, and doing other kinds of yard maintenance. Before heading to the nursery, check out Getting to Know Your Garden
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