- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Weeds are easiest to control when they are tiny emerging plants, reported Jeanette Marantos in a Los Angeles Times blog post. Marantos got tips on weed management from Cheryl Wilen, UC Cooperative Extension integrated pest management advisor in Southern California.
Wilen recommends home gardeners use a swivel (or hula) hoe to scrape the surface and decapitate weeds. “It's a bit of exercise,” she said, "but you can do it so quickly, it's not a problem.”
Another weed control strategy is a thick layer of mulch, with does double-duty by...
- Author: Anne Schellman
- Author: Karey Windbiel Rojas
Gardeners and other consumers frequently look to retail nursery and garden center employees to answer questions about pests and pesticides. To help retailers stay abreast of current pest topics facing California, UC IPM held a workshop for retail employees on January 28, 2016 in Ontario, CA focusing on integrated pest management (IPM) concepts and current issues. Partnering with local UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Advisors and Specialists, the day was filled with information participants could bring back to customers to address their pest and plant problems.
Topics addressed in these workshops include:
- Invasive Pests
- Asian citrus psyllid and...
UC IPM has created a diagnostic tool to help easily diagnose pest problems in your garden or landscape.
To get started using the tool, you'll first need to identify the affected plant in your landscape. Then, choose one of the four Plant Types categories that best describes it. To do this, click on the photo directly or use the +Add to my list button.
You will know the choice was made when...
Weeds can be found in just about every lawn. Weeds are not only unattractive to some people, but they compete with turfgrass for water and nutrients. But did you know that weeds are seldom a problem in well-managed, vigorously growing lawns?
Why Does Your Lawn Have Weeds?
Most lawns fall prey to weeds due to poor maintenance practices that weaken it. The three main factors likely to weaken lawns are improper irrigation, fertilization, or mowing.
In order to know how to manage weeds correctly, you'll need to identify the weeds and understand their life cycle. Certain weeds are associated with conditions such as compacted soil, overwatering, and poor drainage.
Weed Management
The newly updated...
/h2>/h2>Spring is a good time to begin monitoring for any lawn insect pests. Pest examples include various root, crown and leaf-feeding caterpillars, grubs like masked chafers, billbugs and chinch bugs.
Although insects can be serious pests of lawns, lawn damage is more frequently due to lack of proper cultural care and/or improper grass species selection for your area. An unhealthy lawn is more easily attacked by insects, weeds and diseases.
Insects are sometimes are blamed for lawn damage when the culprit may actually be disease-causing pathogens, dog urine, or abiotic causes such as leaving an item on the lawn for some time and inappropriate use of garden chemicals such as fertilizers and herbicides.
It's important to...