Last year there were two shrub pests and now is the time to control them. One is the honeysuckle aphid, a small black and white aphid that attacks the plant early and leaves twisted leaves and dead twigs. The damage…
Two Shrub Pests
Tag: Tree pests
Cedar Apple Rust
Remember those orange spider-looking galls on your junipers early this spring? Now there are brown to orange spots on your apple leaves and fruit. This is cedar-apple rust. The spring galls released spores into the air affecting apple trees. Later…
Leaf Miner Injury
This week I am hearing about leaf miner injury in various plants. You look at the leaf and see tunnels winding around between the tissues of the leaf. I have not seen heavy infestations that skeletonize the plant, however, they…
Die-back
Trees and shrubs in South Dakota have been slow to leaf out due to the winter. A lot of woody plants are showing signs of die-back or total death. Most likely due to the winter going through warm and cold…
Tents of Caterpillars
I am noticing tents of caterpillars in fruit trees and other trees now. The adult moth lays eggs in a crotch of trees and the little caterpillars start spinning a web around the congregation. As they grow the tent becomes…
Rodent Damage on Trees
People are seeing rodent damage on trees, especially young fruit trees. The worst-case scenario is if the rodent (whether mouse or rabbit) ate into the heart of the center wood circling the entire trunk, there is not much hope for…
Emerald Ash Borer
The City of Sioux Falls is dealing with the emerald ash borer, found in parts of the city in 2018. As a result, there is an emergency quarantine for Minnehaha and parts of Lincoln and Turner Counties, where wood cannot…
Rabbit Damage
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…
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…