What happens when you combine mild weather, a rain that lasts for a day or two and rapidly growing plants fighting for space? Nature has provided perfect growing conditions for the disease rust. One of the most common fungal diseases of garden plants, there are thousands of different species of rust that infect trees, shrubs, …
As you drive through neighborhoods in mid-February, you may be delighted by the large trees clothed in puffy cloud looking blossoms of white. Common throughout Marin, ornamental pear trees, specifically ‘Bradford’ pears, put on a spectacular show. In the mid-1960’s landscapers and municipal planners planted lots of them – they grew fast, took any kind …
Weather so far this season has been really really cold, and of late, nice, and wet. Not a great time to be outside wording in the yard. It IS, however, a great time to do some much-needed primping of your indoor plants. If you keep your plants clean and neat, they’re not only more attractive, …
Along with the first rains of the season arrive, comes the potential for botrytis – a disease that can turn lush rose blooms into a brown, soggy mush. This wide-spread disease is also known as botrytis blight, bud rot, gray mold, wooly mold and when growing on grapes, the “noble rot” where it can either …
Thursday, September 22 is the autumnal equinox, astronomically the day when the sun crosses the celestial equator heading south. From this point until the first day of winter, days will get shorter. The time of the year usually ushers in cooler weather, which is a good reminder to start cleaning up the garden. Referred to …
If you’ve grown tomatoes for a few years, chances are you use plants known to be free of and resistant to two common deadly fungal diseases, fusarium and verticillium wilt. But did you know that the blackened branch on a prized Japanese maple, towering ash, or verdant pepper tree may be the result of infection …
Your garden is growing like crazy as we head into summer. Is it time to feed the lawn, the tomatoes and veggies, roses, and other flowers? Before you haul out bags, boxes, or bottles of plant food and sprinkle, spread, or pour them on, consider whether you really need to. Are the products beneficial to …
One of the unwanted visitors to the spring garden arrives just about now. That pulsating mass of tiny pests that cloak the new growth on your roses, viburnums, or peach trees are at best an unsightly nuisance and at worst, creatures that can damage tender new growth on plants and spread disease. Welcome to the …
Noticed any branches of your pear or apple trees that look like they’ve been torched or scorched? Might be a case of fire blight, a nasty bacterial disease. It most frequently affects pome fruit trees (apples and pears) and related plants – crabapple, ornamental pear, pyracantha, and quince. Infections may appear scattered throughout the crown …
You don’t need a calendar to know that it’s spring. Signs of the season abound as bulbs pierce the ground with vibrant bouquets and trees and shrubs begin to flower. New foliage erupts from the bare branches and slender stems of prized fruit trees creating visions of bountiful crops, fresh peach pie, baked pears, or …
Curly foliage is not what you want on your peach tree! Read More »
