Fall is a busy time for tree squirrels as they comb their environment for food to store for the winter. While they can be fun to watch, they can also be a real nuisance for bird feeders and the garden in general. They feed on a variety of fruits, nuts, and other crops and plants, …
Just as you bite into that big, juicy apple, fresh off your tree, you catch sight of something that shouldn’t be there; that worm in the apple is no cute cartoon. Most likely it’s the larvae of the codling moth, a serious pest of apples that also attacks pears and walnuts. This insect pest can …
Do you have healthy looking tomato plants with no fruit? Temperatures below 55°F or above 90°F can cause tomato flowers to fall off or fail to set fruit; too much shade can also result in no fruit. Lush dark green abundant leaves with no flowers may be a result of too much nitrogen. Good …
Warm days and cool nights are happening now. These are perfect conditions for powdery mildew to thrive in the garden. This common disease is easily recognized by the talcum-powder like appearance on new and old leaves, tender new shoots, some flowers, and fruits. It affects a huge range of plants – roses, crape myrtle, sycamore, …
The emerald ash borer is a small (roughly half inch long) beetle with metallic green wing covers and a coppery red or purple abdomen. While there are other metallic wood-boring beetles, the emerald ash borer’s body is longer and more cylindrical than others. Adults feed on the edges of leaves and lay eggs under tree …
Sometimes vertebrate animals can become pests in our homes, gardens, schools, parks, and landscapes and management efforts are needed. But figuring out what has burrowed under the porch, eaten the fruit on your trees, or caused holes in the lawn can be difficult if you don’t see the culprit in action. If you think you …
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 …
With more than 70 inches of rainfall recorded on Mt. Tamalpais this season, the deluge may be more than some yards can handle. Did you experience torrents of water pouring off your roof and pooling around your treasured shade trees? Puddles spotting your lawn or ponding in your veggie garden? Why is too much of …
Are your roses sporting new leaves that glisten in the sunlight and are slightly sticky to the touch? See a trail of ants crawling up the trunk of your plum tree? How about powdery black stuff on your camellia bush or the garden furniture next to it? All are indicators that sucking insects may have …
Seeing mounds of soil, or open holes in your grass or flowerbeds? Could be a gopher or a mole. Both of these critters create tunnels and are active underground, improving the soil by aerating it and mixing nutrients. But they are otherwise very different. Gophers are rodents that eat only plants, favoring bulbs and roots, …
