Garden Pests

Cedar Apple Rust Disease

There are several cedar-rust diseases that spend part of their life cycle on Eastern red cedar and other junipers, and another part of their life cycle on apple, hawthorn, and other members of the rose family. Both hosts are required for the fungus to complete its life cycle.

DISEASE CYCLE

The rust organism spends one full year of its life cycle on junipers. During the second spring, usually around the time crabapples are in bloom, the galls become rain soaked and swell, producing jelly-like tendrils (spore horns) that project out of the galls. As the spore horns begin to dry, the spores are released and carried by the wind to young, newly developing leaves of apples and other susceptible plants. Dispersal of spores can range up to 5 miles from a juniper but most infections develop within several hundred feet. About a month after crabapples have bloomed, the spores are exhausted and most leaves are no longer susceptible. Ten-to-14-days from initial infection, small yellow spots can be seen on upper surfaces of infected leaves. Several weeks later, the fungus appears as orange or brown spots with hairlike appendages on the underside of the leaf. In late summer, the rust spots release the spores and are carried to nearby junipers.

Orange jelly galls on Junipers

Rust spots on apple leaves

Cedar-apple rust is the most common of the three fungal rust diseases and attacks susceptible cultivars of apples and crabapples. It infects the leaves, fruit, and, occasionally, young twigs. The alternate host plant, Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), is necessary for the survival of the fungus. Spores produced on rose family plants only infect juniper plants, and those originating on the evergreen host only infect rose family plants. Repeated infections of cedar-apple rust can be unsightly and seriously weaken and destroy the ornamental value and health of susceptible plants.

 

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Cultural Control
Because this disease requires two hosts, the separation of the hosts for a distance of one mile will help reduce infection. Ideally, to minimize disease host availability, plant trees and shrubs that are resistant to rust diseases. There are many apples, crabapples, hawthorns, and junipers that exhibit resistance to these diseases.

Chemical Control
Protective fungicides can be applied to help minimize infection. A minimum of three applications should be done. These applications protect the new leaves from spores that are dispersed from the juniper host in mid-spring. Spraying apple and crabapple foliage after symptoms develop has no controlling effect.

Apples and Crabapples: Begin spraying when new growth appears and flower buds show color but are not yet open. Repeat three to four times at 10 to 14 day intervals.

Tree and evergreen pests

Browning Needles in Evergreens

A few spruce trees and other evergreens are showing some browning needles. Needles behind the new growth and truck will shed, this is natural.  With the unseasonable drought, heat, wet, and cold that we have experienced over the past several years, many of the evergreens especially blue spruce and firs.

Needle drop can exhibit several problems caused by weather, environmental problems, insects, and diseases. There are many noninfectious problems that can mimic diseases. A few possibilities include an imbalance in soil pH, poor fertility, fertilizer or chemical burn, root injury, and drought stress. I think the main cause is not watering the tree right before soil freeze. Later, browning occurs from some diseases on the blue spruce include the Cytospora canker and Rhizosphaera needle cast. It could also be mite damage. The mites are spider-like creatures that suck the sap from spruce needles, so that when viewed under magnification, the needles appear speckled with yellow flecks. You can scout for mites by shaking a symptomatic branch over a white sheet of paper and then looking for tiny, moving dots (mites).

It is important to correctly identify the issue causing the branch die-back before proceeding with any solution. I am going to suggest if you want to, bring a sample down to the office for identification or any other problems you may be having.

DIY Projects

Home Shelving Decor

Often the appearance of your home depends upon the arrangement and placement of your things. Most of the time people concentrate on the decor of their homes, but forget that arranging stuff you own in a certain manner also matter that much. You may have the most expensive or elegant of the decor items that one could buy off but if not placed strategically, they may end up ruining the look of your home. You may not want everything you own on display, but sometimes it is good to put up a show. Wall shelving decor might play a key role if you are even thinking of putting up a little of a show.

DIY wall shelves

DIY shelves are easy to build, classy by look, and easy to detach and remodel as well. You can reuse old stuff or buy old and discarded items at cheaper prices to build a new set of DIY wall shelves for your home. You can use these handmade shelves for any part of your home, say kitchen, living room, kids room, bedroom, and even your bathrooms. The shelves can either be used as a storage facility or simply to add some decor to a blank wall. You would be surprised at the amount of work you can get with these simple do-it-yourselfers.

Shelves for the kitchen

The floating wall shelves idea is quite a good one, especially for your kitchen. These shelves are easy to build and you can get a chance to display the delicate and beautiful crockery you own. It also makes it easier to store your daily cookery items neatly and in a handy manner. You can use reclaimed wood to create shelves on a wall in different patterns, such as a honey comb pattern. These shelves can be used to store wine bottles or any other stuff you might want to put on display.

Shelves for kids’ room

When you are decorating your kids room, you are sure to look for something most creative and unique, to make the room more attractive. DIY shelving ideas work best to make this work out. There are many distinctive designs and ideas you can implement to make some cool shelves for the kids. You could cut out plywood in the shape of a tree and place it as a unique shelf against the wall for your kid to store and display stuff. You can also put up wall shelves from one end to the other, which make up a great space for arranging those nursery rhymes and other books in a neat fashion.