[From the UC IPM Pests in the Landscape Blog]

Butterfly bush, salvia, and lavender in bloom. (Ellen Zagory)

IPM is a science-based, environmentally sound strategy that farmers, professionals, and residents can use to help prevent or control pests and their damage while at the same time protecting people, bees, beneficials, pets and the planet.

Are you already using IPM?

IPM uses a combination of methods including:

• Biological control -- 'good bugs' or beneficial organisms like spiders or parasites that eat or prey on other bugs;
• Physical control -- blocking the pest from getting to a plant or in your house. Squishing a pest. Pulling weeds out by hand.
• Cultural control -- changing the conditions favoring the pest such as reducing wet areas or fertilizing less
• Chemical control -- using a pesticide that controls the pest but is less toxic to other organisms and the environment. Pesticides are considered only when other methods have not been successful.

What are some IPM examples?

Pests such as ants, flies, cockroaches and mice. Prevent them from entering your home by sealing up cracks and crevices, using weather stripping on doors and windows, and repairing and replacing screens.

Monitor outdoor pests so you can decide whether or not take action. Some IPM tactics include spraying aphids off with a forceful stream of water, handpicking caterpillars, snails, and beetle pests, or using row covers to keep pests off your plants.

After reading this article, you may discover that you already practice IPM. To learn more about integrated pest management, visit the UC IPM website What is IPM? or visit the Home, garden turf and landscape pests web page for solutions to common pest problems.

Summer and Fall Events, 2019

Ready to learn about local pollinators and how to welcome them to your garden? Take our Attracting Pollinators to your Backyard class this Thursday, September 5, 2019 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. USDA Scientist Kathryn Prince will introduce common native pollinator bees and butterflies found in our area and which plants they prefer. You'll also receive free milkweed and other wildflower seeds! Voluntary $2 donation asked. Sign up at ucanr.edu/pollinators/2019 

Showy milkweed plants and a monarch butterfly. (Xerces Society)

Seed Saving Workshop Sept 19
Join us Thursday, September 19, 2019 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. for a fun evening on saving vegetable seeds. Learn which seeds can be saved and how best to save them. There will be a hands-on portion, and afterwards you'll take home a mason jar full of heirloom tomato seeds, as well as seed packets of other heirloom vegetables. Cost is $5. Sign ups coming soon!

Vegetable Gardening for Absolute Beginners Oct 17
You asked, we answered! Several community residents reached out to us requesting a class about the “basics” of vegetable gardening. Comments included wanting to learn more about:

• How to identify your soil type
• How often to water and why
• Making your garden water efficient
• Which vegetables to plant and when

This free class will be held on a Thursday evening from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Participants will receive free a set of cool and warm season vegetable seeds.

Succulent Gardening Workshop Oct 26
Curious to know more about succulents? On Saturday, October 26, 2019 we're holding a morning workshop all about these colorful plants! You'll learn about different varieties and how to grow and propagate them. We'll also design a succulent garden box together. You'll take home plenty of cuttings to decorate your landscape!

Stay tuned for more information. This workshop is limited to 30 participants, so make sure to sign up as soon as you see it advertised to hold your space!

Never miss an event!
Follow us on Facebook or twitter @ucmgstanislaus or visit our event Classes and Workshops page regularly.

These four events will be held at the Agricultural Center in Modesto in Harvest Hall in rooms D&E.

Every time you eat a fruit, vegetable, or nut, you may want to thank a pollinator. Without them, our diet would lack many of the vitamins and minerals we need to survive.

Often honeybees get all the kudos for pollinating, and they do a great job. But there are other pollinators involved too, including bumblebees, other species of bees*, birds, bats, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and even flies.

June 17-23, 2019 is Pollinator Week, but you can celebrate pollinators all year long by creating a pollinator-friendly landscape. Here is a short list of things you can do now:

• Situate your garden in a sunny location
• Provide a variety of habitats such as shrubs, tall grasses, and low growing plants
• Leave some area of your ground bare (for ground-nesting bees & wasps)
• Use plants that provide pollen and nectar
• Use a mix of plants that bloom throughout the growing season
• Choose less toxic pesticide options and apply them in the early morning or evening

If you have questions or need assistance with any of these suggestions, feel free to contact the UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardeners at (209) 525-6800 or ucmgstanislaus@ucanr.edu

Please join us when we recommend pollinator-friendly plants during our next free class on Low Water Use Landscaping on Thursday, June 27 from 6:00-7:30 in Modesto. Sign up at http://ucanr.edu/lowwater2019

In the fall we plan to hold a class all about pollinators, so stay tuned!

* Visit the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab Common Bee Groups of California to see photos of other types of bees you may find in your landscape. http://www.helpabee.org/common-bee-groups-of-ca.html

In our previous blog, we posted a Pollinator Quiz. How did you do? Check the answers below to find out. Please post your responses in the comments section, or reply to the post on our Facebook page.

Longhorn bee. (Ellen Zagory, UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden)

Question #1: What is pollination?

Pollination happens when pollen is moved by an insect, animal, or the wind. Pollen moves between the male part of a flower to the female part of either the same flower or another flower of the same species. This is how fertilization takes place and produces fruits and seeds.

Male longhorn bee and red admiral butterfly on Tithonia. (Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Entomology and Nematology)

Question #2: Which of the following are pollinators?

• (European) Honey bees
• Flies
• Wasps
• Butterflies
• Moths
• Hummingbirds
• Dragonflies
• Rats
• Native bees
• Lizards
• Beetles

All the above are pollinators, except for dragonflies, rats, and lizards! You may have been surprised to see flies, wasps, bats, and beetles listed. These pollinators help fertilize plants, although some are more efficient than others. You can support these animals and insects by planting a pollinator garden.

Pipevine swallowtail butterfly larva. (Anne Schellman)

Question #3: What 3 important things do you need to provide in your garden to support pollinators?

When planning a pollinator garden, keep these 3 elements in mind:

Food
Flowers provide nectar (energy) and pollen (protein) for pollinators. However, moth and butterfly larvae (also called caterpillars) often rely on one specific plant for food.

To attract pollinators when planning your garden, purchase at least three of each kind of plant species and plant them in a group. This makes it easier for pollinators to find the plants and to return to your garden.

In fall and late winter, nectar and pollen resources are scarce, so look for plants such as Knifophia ‘Christmas Cheer,' California fuchsia (Epilobium spp.), various species of salvia such as ‘Mexican Sage' (Salvia leucantha) and Gooseberry (Ribes spp.). You can also visit nurseries and garden centers to see what's in bloom during those times.

Western tiger swallowtail. (Ellen Zagory, UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden)

Water
Many pollinators need water for survival. Bird baths and fountains attract hummingbirds and bees and help them stay hydrated. However, make sure your water source isn't too deep, or the pollinators may drown. Add pebbles or stones to shallow dishes and floating corks to deeper containers.

Shelter
Moths and Butterflies
In addition to providing food for moths and butterflies, larval food plants also provide shelter. If you remember the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, these critters eat a lot! Make sure you have enough food, and be prepared to have your plants stripped bare of leaves if you get a lot of caterpillar visitors!

Native Bees
Seventy percent of native bees nest in the ground, so leave bare areas in your landscape for them. The other thirty percent nest in wood or a cavity created by another critter. Create bee boxes by drilling holes ¾ apart of various diameters between ¼ to ⅜ inches. To see native bee photos, visit the UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden page Beyond the Honey Bee. To create habitat for wood nesting bees, visit this Xerces Society page for directions.

Honey Bees
If you want to have your own hive, you can learn all about it and even take classes at UC Davis. Visit the Apiculture Courses page. 

Hummingbird at feeder. (Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Entomology and Nematology)

Online Resources
How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden
California Bee-Friendly Garden Recipes  
Gardening for Pollinators
What You Might Not Know about Hummingbirds
Get to Know Common Local Native Bees

Print Resources
Frankie, G.W. et al. 2014. California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists. Berkeley: Heyday books.

Jadallah, C. et al. 2017. Common Bees in California Gardens, UC ANR Publication 3552. (Bee identification cards, spiral bound.) 

Shapiro, A.M., and T. Manolis. 2007. Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions. Berkeley: University of California Press.