Since plants need water, what’s the issue with too much rain? It results in wilting plants in the garden. Although soil may seem rather solid, there are lots of spaces between the particles. These spaces hold air and water, and…
If you’ve ever been out on a summer evening outdoors only to be startled by an inch-long, slow-flying beetle crashing into you, then you’ve encountered a June bug (which is actually a beetle) of which I have been receiving many…
Dog ticks are everyone’s nightmare especially your dogs’. Keep areas free of tall grass, weeds and garden debris – you’ll also discourage small rodents, which transport ticks. Place outdoor play and entertainment areas in sunny, airy spots, away from tick-prone…
Crabgrass is an annual grass with broad blades that are coarse, pointed and short. It doesn’t blend in with lawn grasses in color, habit or texture and can be very competitive. If left alone, it will invade your lawns, flowerbeds…
Bug lights, although most of us want to avoid attracting insects to our light bulbs for mostly selfish reasons (insects = annoying). Overall, incandescent light bulbs pulled in the highest number of insects, followed by CFL, halogen globes, and cool-colored…
Due to the excessive snow and cold temperatures, many of our beautiful shrubs are not looking their best and little rabbits are to blame. Rabbit damage is now showing up in the country or in town. Rabbit damage has been…
Today my quest is for a natural pest control method to deter deer from devouring my gardens, preferably without sophisticated fencing or expensive pest control services. Or by enrolling in a weaponry class. I jest. Sort of. The first time…
If your plants’ leaves have a white or gray dust on them, powdery mildew is probably attacking your garden. It’s a common disease, and different strains of powdery mildew attack a wide range of plants. This problem usually occurs toward…
By this time of the year, most people are during tomato harvest. I have been noticing blossom end rot is showing up now. This show up as a black or brown rotten area on the bottom of the tomatoes. There…
Raccoons in the garden are nocturnal animals that are thriving thanks to increased human contact, as anyone with an unsecured dumpster or trash can will attest. Wild populations prefer areas with trees and water nearby. But more and more they…
Hackberry psyllids are small aphid-like insects that cause hackberry galls commonly seen on the underside of hackberry tree leaves. An alternative name is hackberry “gall-maker.” They are most commonly noticed, however, as a household nuisance in late summer and fall.…
Avoid using mulches and clean up any debris around plants to eliminate shelter for squash bugs. Practicing crop rotation can greatly reduce their numbers as well. However, rotations will not completely keep squash bugs from showing up because of their…
Get the Weeds Out While They Are Young Summer Weed Management Strategies Now is the time when those pesky weeds are really coming up full force in many gardens around the state, particularly if you have had rain in your…
Most of the questions that will be coming in will relate to tomato problems, and earlier this summer, relate to tomato problems in South Dakota. Despite early predictions that this summer was going to be dry, many areas have received…
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…