If you are puzzled by curling leaves on plants in your garden or landscape, you may need to do some detective work to figure out the cause. Curling leaves can be caused by many problems, including insect damage, disease, abiotic disorders, or even herbicides.
Insects
There are several insect pests that cause leaves to curl when they suck plant juices of new or young leaves that are still growing. These include aphids, thrips, and whiteflies.
Peach leaf...
Snails and slugs can be destructive pests in gardens and landscapes when they devour entire seedlings or chew holes in leaves, flowers, fruit, and even the bark of plants.
Manage these pests by getting rid of their hiding places, setting up traps, or planting resistant plants.
For more information about effective ways to manage snails and slugs, read the newly revised Pest Notes: Snails and Slugs by Cheryl Wilen, Area IPM Advisor, San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles counties; and Mary Louise Flint, Extension Entomologist Emerita, UC Davis and UC IPM.
- Author: Janet Hartin
[From the Spring issue of the UC IPM Retail Nursery & Garden Center News]
Most disorders impacting landscape trees result from abiotic (non-living) disorders rather than attacks from biotic (living) pests like plant pathogens, insects, and vertebrates. Damage caused by abiotic and biotic disorders can appear similar, making diagnosis difficult at times. For example, discolored leaves on a Ficus nitida tree could be due to drought stress, a fungus, or a nutrient toxicity or...
/span>Finding freshly dug mounds of soil in the garden, lawn, or landscape might be a sign of gophers or moles. Their mounds look similar and are frequently confused for each other.
Figure 1 shows a mole mound, which usually is volano-shaped with a circular margin. Figure 2 illustrates a gopher mound and the characteristic crescent shape and plugged opening. Actual mounds may look slightly different from these pictures, but the descriptions are typical of the two vertebrates.
The burrowing activity of both moles and gophers can damage plant roots by dislodging and drying them out. Mounds themselves can be an aesthetic problem in turf and landscapes, but they can also be tripping hazards. Both species eat plant material, and in...
Raccoons may look adorable at times, but when this nocturnal animal appears in your yard at night, its “cuteness” factor quickly disappears.
Raccoons normally live in natural areas, but they can easily adapt and survive in urban settings where they may damage garden plants, knock over garbage cans or compost piles, and eat backyard fruits, nuts and vegetables. Female raccoons may nest in backyards, attics, or beneath decks or homes.
Raccoons are known to carry parasites and diseases so family pets could be at risk if they come into contact with these animals. If you live in an area where raccoons are common, make sure to get your pets vaccinated for rabies and distemper.
If raccoons become a...