In The Backyard

If you're one that usually suffers from the fall allergy season, you know the symptoms all to well. Many people blame goldenrod as the culprit, when it is mostly ragweed problems. In our area, we have two types of ragweed. The most noticeable is giant ragweed. Giant ragweed, also called horseweed, and it can grow well over 10 feet tall. It is very noticeable as one of the few weeds that...

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Apple development seems to be running ahead of normal this year. Sooty blotch and flyspeck are caused by different fungi that commonly occur together on the same fruit. The sooty blotch fungus causes surface discoloration with black spots or blotches which can be a fourth of an inch or larger. These spots may run together, making the apple appear to be covered with something like charcoal dust....

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The time of year has arrived to put that final push on to prepare your lawn for the upcoming winter months. What you do now will have a big impact on how your lawn will look next spring. With about three weeks to complete many of the chores, you'll have plenty of time to make your list and complete your shopping. Keep mowing when the grass or weeds dictate mowing. The rule of thumb is t...

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It's difficult to believe we are talking about fall already, but as we approach mid-August we start a different cycle in plant growth. Things are beginning to wind down, Most fall defoliators come to us as the larval stage (caterpillars) of a moth. When we talk about controls of the larvae, the fact that they are larvae of moths or butterflies makes them susceptible to the use of B.t. products...

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Another fall topic to be covered in the late summer is fall gardening. The idea is to harvest in the fall, and that takes a little bit of planning, and planting, on your part. The fall garden planting season actually begins in June. Most of the dates are based on the ability to withstand frost, or not withstand frost. Since we are well past June, here are some of the things we can still plant i...

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This past week or so, rust has paid us a return visit. As grass growth slows, rust is one of the lawn fungi we are dealing with. Rust appears as an orange or yellowish-orange powder (spores) on grass leaf blades, especially in late summer to early fall when the weather is dry. Rust typically develops on lawns growing very slowly. Higher temperatures may also contribute to slow growth. Overall,...

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We are at a possible time to control Zimmerman Pine Moth. Zimmerman pine moth is one of those "kind of borers." It generally affects only severely weakened trees, and goes just under the bark to girdle the cambium layer at a branch whorl. It seems like older Scotch, red, and Austrian pines are favorites when they begin to decline. There are other problems which cause the sap to leak out, and th...

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