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 […]
Could it be Fire Blight? Read More »
If your last crop of apples featured a worm inside that big, juicy fruit, it likely was the larvae of the codling moth, a serious pest of apples that also attacks pears, large-fruited hawthorns, and walnuts. This insect pest can be a bane in the home orchard. The moth larvae tunnel into the fruit and
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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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What in the world is garden sanitation? It’s simply the removal of plant material that can harbor pests and disease. By removing debris from your garden, you reduce the ability for pests and pathogens to negatively impact your garden next spring. Remove all badly diseased or pest infested plants, trash, weeds, and dying plant parts.
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Rollie pollie’s – are these good or bad? Known more commonly as pill bugs, these little crustaceans are part of Nature’s recycling team. Looking somewhat like mini armadillos, they feed on decaying materials, but sometimes they become pests when they feed on young shoots and roots, or on fruits and vegetables that lie on damp
“An invasive plant is a plant that is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration, and whose introduction is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health” says Plant Right, a California non-profit working with California’s nursery industry to keep invasive plants out of our landscapes and to promote the sale of
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It’s National Fig Week – time to recognize this popular fruit that’s actually a little bundle of tiny flowers inside a small, thin sac. Most figs grown in home gardens are called common figs with varieties like ‘Brown Turkey’ and ‘Celeste’, and they’re self-pollinators. Figs lose their leaves each year and are easy to grow.
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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
These flying pests are annoying with a bite that can be anywhere from mildly irritating to seriously painful. AND they can transmit disease, so it’s a good idea to start with preventing them from breeding. Don’t let mosquitoes breed in your yard! Anything that can hold water for more than five to seven days can
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It’s almost National Lemon Meringue Pie Day, celebrated annually on August 15. The holiday is dedicated to a pie that has been around since the late 18th century and through various points in American history was either an extremely popular pie or a pie that few people thought of making. It’s a great way to
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