- Author: Elaine Lander
(Credit: Jack Kelly Clark)
Mistletoe is a familiar sight of the season, often found wrapped in ribbon and hung for certain festivities this time of year. But did you know it is actually a parasitic plant that grows on a number of landscape trees in California?
There are two types of mistletoe in California. Broadleaf mistletoes attack certain broadleaf trees and some conifers while dwarf mistletoes attacks only conifers. Broadleaf mistletoes have green stems with thick, oval leaves. Dwarf mistletoes are smaller, with short stems and yellow scaly leaves.
Both types of mistletoe grow through tree bark and into the tree's tissue, living off the host tree. Healthy trees can typically tolerate a few mistletoe infections although individual branches may...
(Credit: JM DiTomaso)
Weeds in the landscape can be tough to manage. But there are many options for weed management using an integrated approach that combines nonchemical and chemical methods.
Identification:
- Start by identifying the weeds you want to manage. UC IPM has a weed photo gallery that includes most weeds found in California landscapes. Knowing how a weed grows and spreads is an important step in successful control.
- Once you know what weed or weeds you're dealing with, consult the Pest Notes series on weeds to find specific management options.
- Management...
Roses are popular ornamental plants grown in home gardens, parks, and other landscapes. Just like other plants, roses can be host to a number of insects and mite pests.
Roses can grow well with little to no pesticide use and numerous natural enemies, or “good bugs” exist to help hunt or parasitize common rose insect pests.
Find solutions for common invertebrate pests on roses in UC IPM's recently updated Pest Notes: Roses: Insects and Mites. This revised publication by rose experts Mary Louise Flint, Extension Entomologist Emerita, and John Karlik, UC Cooperative Extension Advisor, Kern County will help...
Landscape trees provide welcome shade, fruit, homes for wildlife, and even a place for kids to climb. But if the wood is damaged, disease-causing fungi can infect the tree. A number of fungal diseases decay wood in both tree branches and trunks, weakening and sometimes killing the tree. Wood decay can be hazardous when infected branches and trunks fall.
Palm trees are commonly seen in California, making some think about the tree-lined streets of Hollywood, or sitting by the pool somewhere. These tropical or subtropical trees are beautiful and varied, with many different types of palms, each adapted for different growing conditions and each with specific disease-causing pathogens that can attack it.
Palm trees, like other plants, are susceptible to pathogens that can weaken or even kill the tree. Diseases such as diamond scale, pink rot, Fusarium wilt, and others can reduce the leaf canopy, discolor leaves and trunk, and cause distortion, stunting or death.
If you have palm trees or care for palms as part of your work, it's important to identify and know about these...
