In the garden this week some vine crops, especially cucumbers have been forming brown to black spots on the leaves. This is a fungus disease called anthracnose. Usually, the disease shows up after the plants have mainly produced their season’s crop. The best remedy is to rotate the crop each year and not overhead water which spreads the fungus. If you want to control this, a copper-based fungicide works well.
The next problem coming up is sunburning of tomatoes. This will appear as a discolor of the tomato skin at the shoulder or side. It is different from blossom end rot which appears on the bottom of the fruit. This is the main reason not to prune tomato plants. Also, I have noticed the beginning of blight on the lower leaves of the plants which I have been picking off and discarding to prevent the spread of the disease.
People have noticed bumps on the undersides of Linden and some maple leaves. These are galls caused by a tiny fly or wasp laying an egg on the leaf as the tree was leafing out. The leaves grow around the eggs which hatches into the tiny adult. They will not harm the tree.
If your lawn is patchy with irregular light brown patches with wilted turf, you may have a fungus called summer patch. This is a fungus that attacks the roots of the grass spreading outward. It is particularly bad in all Bluegrass lawns that are drought stressed. To control, water deep but infrequently and fertilize regularly. There are turf grasses that are resistant to the fungus. This damage looks similar to grub damage but pull back the turf and you will see the grubs underneath. Also, grub damage shows up later in the summer.
I was going to give some dill away but noticed I have swallowtail caterpillars on them. Think I will let the caterpillars have the dill so I will get the swallowtail butterflies. Thinking back to pollinators plants bringing in butterflies and hummingbirds, I need to plant more butterfly weeds (orange-flowered milkweed called Asclepias), Echinacea (coneflower), Phlox, Flowering Onions, and Trumpet Vines for the wildlife.