The Japanese Beetle is a highly destructive plant pest that can be very difficult and expensive to control. Feeding on turf grass roots, Japanese Beetle grubs (larvae) damage lawns. The adult beetles attack the foliage, flowers, or fruits of more than 300 different ornamental and agricultural plants. While most of the damage to plants is done by late summer, this is the time to treat lawns for grubs.
The ...
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So many people have asked me about these unsightly silk tents at the branch tips of trees seemingly everywhere – yes, this seems to be a banner year for fall webworm. This caterpillar hatches in the summer from moths that lay masses of eggs on the undersides of foliage, and they can be found feeding on any of over 100 species of deciduous trees and shrubs.The larvae ...
The most welcome warm weather and sunny days of spring also brings forth some undesirable sights. One of the most common is the web of the Eastern tent caterpillar. Found commonly in cherry trees (members of the Prunus family), the prominent web in the fork of the trees provides the nightly hiding place for the caterpillars, which feed on the leaves during the day. Once the insect has had ...
You may wonder about the appearance of new weeds in your gardens and lawns this time of the year. These are winter annual weeds, which began germinating in the fall. They are viable for the good part of a year (hence, their designation as ‘annuals’). Their seeds began germinating in October, and they thrive from fall through early spring. They die off by summer. If you ...
Whether you tend to your own lawn or hire a professional to take care of it, you should become aware of Maryland’s new “Lawn Fertilizer Act” that goes into effect October 1st. This new law was designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s other waterways from excessive nutrients that flow into them from sources such as lawn fertilizers that contain nitrogen and phosphorus.
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23
AUG
2013
Japanese Stiltgrass, an exotic invasive grass species introduced into the U.S. in Tennessee in 1919, has invaded our landscapes with a vengeance recently. Since this annual grassy weed is well adapted to low sunlight, it will invade disturbed shaded areas near woods. Deer avoid foraging on this species in the woodlands, thus hastening its spread. A single plant is able to produce 100-1000 seeds, ...
The best thing you can do to lower garden maintenance is to get your weeds under control. Correct weed removal is not an unskilled labor task. Workers must be able to distinguish noxious weeds from often similar-looking desirable ornamentals. If the entire weed is not dug out with a proper tool (many cannot just not be hand pulled), new growth will soon sprout. Hand weeding is ...
Most people have noticed increased populations of Halyomorpha halys, commonly known as the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), which was identified in Maryland in 2002. The pest, native to Asia, was introduced into the United States via trade goods shipments, and has rapidly spread through the East Coast and westward, mostly through transportation carriers.
The BMSB tends to seek warm shelter in houses in the fall and, therefore, caulking ...
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