This week in the garden the Colorado potato beetle showed up. These are reddish-orange fleshy larvae turning into the striped beetle adult. It does not take them long to decimate a potato plant. They are later this year so if…
Last week I mentioned powdery mildew which was on point since quite a few people brought in and sent pictures of this fungus. Let’s go into a little more depth about this topic. The fungus gets into the leaf tissue…
This week in the garden, let’s start with powdery mildew that is starting to affect certain plants like squash vines. It looks like talcum powder sprinkled on the leaves. This fungus can attack most plants, especially lilacs, but rarely does…
This week in the garden, it seems a new pest is coming to our area. This is the Japanese beetle which will lay eggs on grass. The eggs hatch and feed on grass roots then hatch into adults. Like grasshoppers,…
This week in the garden, some people who bought or raised pepper plants from seed are getting different types of peppers than they anticipated. They call this Jalapenogate, Peppergate, or the Great Pepper Mix-up of 2023. This happened when a…
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…
Lighting your landscape areas gives you an interesting look at your back or front yards at night. It provides interest, security, and color. The easiest way to do this is to use solar lights. They do not cost anything to…
There are several types of smoke bushes (Cotinus coggygria) I grow. The green original variety is a large shrub going to 15 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Mine grows as a shrub but can be pruned into a small…
In the garden this week: as it gets hotter, water your newly planted trees and shrubs more remembering they need more water than watering your lawn will give. For the first year or two most of the roots are contained…
Aphids are becoming a problem this week. If the plants (vegetables or flowers) are becoming deformed, look underneath the leaf and see if you have tiny green, black, or reddish “bugs”. If so, use Neem oil or insecticide soap to…
This week in the garden. There have been questions about why my vine crops like cucumbers and summer squash are blooming but not setting fruit. Vine crops have male and female flowers and only the female flower produces fruit after…
Where to look out for this week in the landscape: deadhead your spent flower heads, especially the ones in containers to keep them bushy and flowering. Fertilize every couple of weeks in those containers because of the limited root area.…
Last week there were a lot of questions about what is happening to my tomato leaves. To me, it seems that tomato diseases have become more prevalent due to warmer springs and longer dew times. One is an early blight…
If you are working in the garden this week, here are a few things to consider. Crabgrass is now germinating and growing. If you have a lot of this grass, use a post-emergent crabgrass killer as long as the plants…
Things happening this week in the landscape include the high number of moths flying around. There is not much you can do to eliminate them except for turning out any exterior lights and making sure there are no windows or…