Most people recognize raccoons and their distinctive black “mask” over the eyes and rings around the tail. Because they are mainly active at night, it may be more useful to recognize signs of their presence around homes and landscapes.
Raccoon damage to gardens and landscapes is quite common. They eat a variety of plants and animals including fruits, berries, vegetables, bird eggs, insects, fish, snails, and others, but will also scavenge through garbage and compost piles and eat pet food left out overnight. Raccoons will roll up newly laid turf looking for beetle grubs and will occasionally prey upon koi in backyard ponds. Raccoons are known to carry diseases and internal parasites such as raccoon roundworm, rabies,...
- Author: Michael K Rust
- Editor: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
With the onset of warm weather and outdoor eating, expect an increase in yellowjacket activity (Figure 1). Your local retail nursery and garden center probably carries yellowjacket lure traps, and it's important to know if they work and how to use them. University of California, Riverside entomologists recently tested yellow lure traps (Figure 2) in picnic areas in parks in Southern California and demonstrated that proper use of traps can provide protection of local areas, such as eating areas, in many situations.
Traps don't eliminate large populations but can help reduce numbers of localized foraging workers. Lure traps contain a chemical that attracts yellowjackets into the traps, but the common lure in traps, heptyl...
- Author: Chuck Ingels
- Author: David Robert Haviland
[From the July 2014 issue of the UC IPM Retail Nursery & Garden Center News]
In recent years, you may have seen a strange “new” bug in your garden, especially on tomatoes and pomegranates. These insects may be leaffooted bugs. Although they are native to the western United States and not new to California, leaffooted bugs seem to be occurring more commonly in gardens. These distinctive bugs get their name from the small leaf-like enlargements on the hind leg (Figure 1). They are medium to large sized insects that prefer to feed on fruits and seeds and are often found in...
/span>- Author: Mary Louise Flint
- Editor: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
We've been getting calls this summer from gardeners finding fire blight damage in backyards and landscapes. Fire blight is usually associated with wet springs. Although spring 2014 wasn't particularly wet, rain occurring when apples, pears, quince, cotoneaster, and pyracantha are in bloom can induce the disease even in dry years.
The malady is called fire blight because terminals of affected branches suddenly blacken and die as if they've been scorched by fire (Figure 1). The disease is caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, which commonly enters trees and shrubs through blossoms in rainy weather. Ideal conditions for disease development are rainy or humid weather with mild daytime temperatures (75° to...
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
- Author: Mary Louise Flint
Seeing white powdery growth on leaves and shoots in your garden or landscape? It's probably a sign that you have a common disease called powdery mildew. Powdery mildew occurs on many different plant species including fruits, vegetables and ornamentals, and may be caused by several different fungi. Symptoms vary by plant species, but infections on most plants start as white powdery spots that expand on leaf surfaces or buds. Leaves often turn yellow or brown and fall off. Vegetable fruits are usually not affected, but apples, grapes and stone fruits can develop russet scars or corky areas. In some plants, powdery mildew can cause distorted growth.
Unlike many diseases, powdery mildews generally do not require moist conditions to...