![A backyard chicken coop. [UC ANR]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/43673small.jpg)
[From the May 2017 issue of the UC IPM Retail Newsletter]
Keeping backyard chickens is becoming increasingly popular in residential areas around California. Your store may be selling pre-made chicken coops, feed, or other accessories, or you may be getting questions about rodent pests in chicken houses.
Chicken coops are sometimes associated with mild to serious rodent infestations. Rodents, such as rats and house mice, are not only predators of chickens and eggs, they can carry and transmit many diseases to both chickens and humans. For rodents, as well as most pests in and around the home and garden,...
![Catchweed bedstraw. [K. Windbiel-Rojas]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/42858small.jpg)
Catchweed bedstraw. It's that weed that tugs at your clothes while you pass by or attaches to your dog or cat's fur. It's also known as the “Velcro plant” since it easily clings to anything that touches it.
In the garden, catchweed bedstraw competes with landscape plants for nutrients, water and light. Once mature, it can reach 6 feet long and be problematic when it smothers desirable plants. It can also make it difficult for gardeners to harvest produce.
Catchweed bedstraw is a winter or summer annual in California. The best control is to physically remove it as soon as it appears so it does not spread. For tips on how to manage this weed in your landscape, please visit the
![Examining citrus flush for Asian citrus psyllid. [Photo by Marcy Sousa]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/41096small.jpg)
Are you registered for one of the upcoming "IPM Workshops for Retail Nurseries and Garden Centers"? If not, time is running out!
Oakland Workshop, Jan. 24, 2017
Registration is now open to all for the January 24, IPM Training for Retail Nurseries and Garden Centers in Oakland, CA. A few spaces are still available!
Register now to secure your spot to learn about invasive pests, Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease, household pests, and IPM and pesticides.
- Author: Anne Schellman
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
![Pruning out an scale insect infestation. [Photo by C. Reynolds]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/40504small.jpg)
Now is the time to prepare your garden and landscape for winter. The simple tasks recommended below will help prevent perennial weeds, insect pests, and certain disease pathogens so these problems don't get established and become difficult later.
Weeds
- Manage weeds using nonchemical methods such as cultivation, handweeding, or mowing.
- Prevent weeds using competitive plants, mulches, and hand removal.
- Herbicides (weed killers) are rarely needed in established landscape plantings when nonchemical controls are used regularly.
To learn more about managing weeds, see the UC IPM Pest Note: Weed...
If you have ants climbing up and down trees and shrubs in your landscape, and your trees and shrubs appear to have a sticky substance covering their leaves, you'll want to watch UC IPM's newest YouTube video, “Using a Sticky Barrier to Prevent Ants on Trees and Shrubs”.
The short video explains that the sticky substance on your leaves is honeydew, a sugary substance excreted by aphids, psyllids and a few other plant pests. Ants harvest this...
