Garden Pests

June Bugs

June bugs, also known as the June beetle or May beetle are flying around, can cause damage to many landscape plants and be a pest to the home gardener. June bugs are scarab beetles. These pests appear roughly around late May through June, have roughly the same body shape with the oval back and pincers at the front and feed on the leaves of landscape plants. The grubs of these insects can also cause damage to lawn and turf grass. The damage is normally large brown areas in the grass than can be easily lifted from the ground.

All the beetles that can be called June bugs are treated in the same way. To treat the grubs that cause lawn damage, you can apply an insecticide, like Sevin granules, to the lawn and then water the lawn to get the insecticide into the soil, or you can apply Bacillus thuringiensis or milky spore to the soil to kill the June bug grubs. Grub nematodes can also be applied to the soil to kill June bug grubs.

Sevin or similar insecticides can also be applied to affected plants if the adult June bug is eating your plants. If you are looking for an organic method for how to kill June bugs, you can build a June bug trap. Use a jar or a bucket and place a white light at the top of the container with an inch or two of vegetable oil at the bottom of the jar or bucket. The container should be open so that the June bug can fly in towards the light. They will fall into the oil below and be unable to fly away again. Attracting small snakes, frogs and toads to your yard can also help get rid of June bugs as these are predators of this pest.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

Properly Places Trees Add Value to Property

Properly placed trees can add value to your property. They can provide shade to keep cooling costs down in the summer and provide a windbreak to keep heating costs down in the winter. Trees can provide privacy and year-round interest in the landscape.

Smoke bush

Young zone 4 tree selections may need a little extra protection to make it through the winter. It’s not uncommon for deer or rabbits to rub or chew on new saplings in fall and winter. Tree guards placed around the trunks of new trees can protect them from animal damage.

Experts argue about using tree guards for frost protection. On one hand, it is said that tree guards can protect a tree from frost damage and cracking by keeping the sun from thawing and warming the trunk. On the other hand, it’s believed that snow and ice can get beneath the tree guards causing cracks and damage. Unfortunately, with many cold hardy trees, especially maples, frost cracks are just part of growing trees in zone 4.

Sunburst Honey Locust

Adding a layer of mulch around the root zone of young trees is perhaps the best winter protection. Do not pile the mulch up around the trunk, though because of mice. The mulch should be placed around the tree’s root zone and drip line in a donut shape.

OAKLEAF MOUNTAIN ASH

Upright, oval branching habit becomes denser and rounded with age. White flower clusters appearing in spring followed by showy reddish-orange berry like clusters. Foliage is dark green on upper surface with a white pubescence on undersides. This tree will tolerate poor soil and difficult growing conditions.

MANCHURIAN CHERRY

Prunus maackii, commonly called Manchurian cherry, Amur cherry or Amur chokecherry, is a graceful ornamental flowering cherry tree that typically grows 20-30’ (less frequently to 45’) tall with a dense, broad-rounded crown. It is native to Manchuria, Siberia and Korea. It is perhaps most noted for its attractive, exfoliating golden brown to russet bark. Fragrant white flowers in 6- to 10-flowered clusters (racemes) appear in April-May. Flowers are followed by small, glossy black cherries (1/4” diameter) which ripen in late summer. Fruits are used to make jams, jellies and juices. Elliptic to oblong, medium green leaves (to 4” long) have acuminate tips and serrate margins. Foliage turns undistinguished yellow in fall, often dropping early.

AMERICAN HOPHORNBEAM

American hophornbeam likes full sun or partial shade. It prefers slightly acidic soil and well-drained sites. It loves hilly areas, and in the wild, often grows in dry, even rocky soil. It is hardy in Zones 3 to 9. The tree should be mulched and watered until it is established. Although it is not sensitive to drought, it can’t survive flooding. It is also very sensitive to deicing salt. This tree has no serious pest problems, although it can be susceptible to chestnut borer if it is under stress. In the woods, it is one of the first trees to be defoliated by gypsy moth

AMUR MAPLE

Small tree; to 20′ tall x 20′ wide but often smaller which has upright vase in youth, becoming rounded or spreading with age growing at a medium growth rate. The species is sold in either clump (multi-stemmed) or tree (single-leader) form.

SERVICEBERRY

Apple Serviceberry is a hybrid between Amelanchier canadensis and Amelanchier laevis that grows 15 to 25 feet tall (Fig. 1). Multiple stems are upright and highly branched forming a dense shrub, or if properly pruned in the nursery, a small tree. It is superior to the species in that it suckers less and is adapted to a wide range of soils but tolerates some drought. This cultivar supposedly resists leaf spot better than the original hybrid. The main ornamental feature is the spectacular white flowers that are larger than those of other amelanchiers. The flowers are borne in early spring and are at first tinged with pink but later fade to white. The young leaves are purplish, and the fall color is red, yellow or orange. Edible fruit attracts birds. Well-adapted for planting along residential streets where there is plenty of soil space beneath power lines.

CORKSCREW WILLOW

Your Corkscrew Willow is also sometimes known as Dragon’s Claw for its gnarled, contorted limbs.  Branches arise from the trunk at an acute angle and grow up almost parallel to the trunk before they curve back horizontally.

Corkscrew Willow’s appearance is at its best advantage in the winter when the foliage has fallen to reveal the one-of-a-kind branches.  However, it also shines in the warmer months beginning with its pale-yellow catkins in spring.

As the catkins fade and the foliage develops, you’ll love the 4-inch long, lance-shaped leaves.  The leaves contribute to your tree’s unconventional display with their curled nature. The green foliage, with white-tinted undersides, twirl in the slightest summer breeze.

In autumn the foliage turns to a lovely golden yellow hue for a last gasp of color before the tree’s winter appeal is revealed.

Corkscrew Willow grows 20-30 feet tall and develops a symmetrical, rounded crown.  It is more drought tolerant than most willows and fast-growing. Corkscrew Willow prefers full sun, but you can still have one in part shade if you prefer.  In fact, it’s relatively tolerant of most soils and conditions

Shade Trees and Shrubs

Tree Leaves Turning Brown

In the case of tree leaves turning brown, curling up, and falling off, leaf scorch may be the likely culprit. The obvious signs of leaf scorch are yellow and brown-like color changes on the tips and ends of tree leaves. These leaves will eventually curl up, wilt, and drop off. This disorder is also referred to as Leaf Wilt and Leaf Burn. Nutrient deficiency, transplant shock, soil compaction, drought, over wet soil and more are all common threats that cause leaf scorch and other similar tree problems.

Leaf scorch is a common condition that can occur if a plant or tree uses its water source faster than can absorb it from the ground soil. Plants and trees take in water through their fine feeder roots and transport it through the system to the leaves. Leaf tissue that is farthest from these veins will suffer first from dehydration. These edges turn color and eventually curl up or fall off. This is the start of leaf burn. In drought-like periods, leaf scorch is much more likely to develop; due to the hot temperatures and hot dry winds but can also happen when soils are too wet and cool.

Also, certain types of trees are more susceptible to leaf scorch than other variety of trees and trees that have been transplanted in the last few years. These are trees with limited root systems, which make it harder to derive water from the soil below. As mentioned before, a tree can develop leaf burn if it is using water quicker than it can pull it from the ground; however, there are other possible situations that can also cause this leaf disorder.

Once leaf scorch has developed, there is no cure. The damaged leaves will die and drop off; however, with proper tree care and water management, the tree’s leaves can recover and reproduce once again. When it comes to preventing leaf scorch, you must keep up with your seasonal tree care; especially winter watering. It is suggested to provide a deep soak, once a month, when there is no snow on the ground. This winter watering will prevent roots from dying from dehydration. This practice is helpful so long as you implement the soak on a day that is above freezing temperatures and early enough in the day so that the water does not freeze in the night chill. This is especially important for evergreens!