- (Focus Area) Yard & Garden
Summer is here and so are the pests! Keep an eye out for the following pests and take these steps to prevent problems in the garden or landscape this June. To see more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Check plants for leaf stippling or webbing from spider mites. Irrigate adequately, mist leaf undersides daily, reduce dustiness, or spray horticultural oil to manage them.
- Maintain a fire safe landscape by creating “defensible space”. Thin out thick vegetation and eliminate fuel ladders that allow fire to climb up trees or structures. Remove dry, resinous or dead plants and flammable debris. Cut branches back 15 to 20 feet from buildings. Use non-combustible surfaces for walkways, patios and driveways.
- Inspect plants for aphids and their natural enemies. Protect young plants with covers; most established plants can tolerate aphid feeding.
- Monitor for redhumped caterpillars. Look for skeletonized leaves or individual caterpillars feeding on sweet gum, plum, walnut, redbud, and other deciduous trees and shrubs.
- Check for fire blight on pome plants such as apple, crabapple, pear, and pyracantha. Signs include oozing and dead limbs. Make proper pruning cuts in the summer or winter when the bacteria is no longer spreading through the tree.
- Look for leaffooted bugs feeding on fruit and nuts such as almonds, pistachios, and pomegranates.
- Inspect apple, citrus and especially stone fruit for bacterial blast, blight, and canker. Remove entire affected branches in the summer, making cuts several inches away in healthy wood.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's National Pollinator Month, and what better time to find a tiny speck of a bee on a seven-foot tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii?
This is a sweat bee of the family Halictidae, the second largest family of bees, comprised of some 4500 species. The family is found on every continent except Antarctica.
Sweat bees--as the name suggests--are attracted to perspiration. The oldest fossil record dates back to the Early Eocene epoch, which lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago.
A tiny speck of a bee finding a tiny bit of pollen, much as it did millions of years ago...
- Author: Anne Schellman
What do pumpkins need?
Space - Pumpkin plant vines can grow over 20 feet long. Give plants plenty of space to grow. Use a tomato cage or small trellis for mini pumpkin varieties. For larger pumpkins, vines can grow on a fence. Make sure to support each pumpkin with a “sling” like a t-shirt or tied nylon stocking tied that is also tied to the fence.
Mounds - Make a small mound or hill and plant 3-5 pumpkin seeds per hill. Create a small basin around each planting to help keep the soil moist until seedlings appear.
Water – Water early in the morning. As the plants mature, water deeply and infrequently to a depth of 12 inches, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between watering.
Fertilizer – If desired, you can use a vegetable fertilizer labeled for pumpkins.
Thinning – If growing large pumpkins, select the best-looking fruit when it is small, and remove the others. This will send all the nutrients into that pumpkin so it can grow large.
Possible Pests
If you see any of these pests on your plants, visit the UC IPM Website tips on what to do.
Just for Fun
When pumpkins are small, carve your name or a cool design on the skin and it will become more apparent and look extra spooky as the pumpkin gets larger.
Also, if you are on Facebook or Instagram, please follow us @UC Master Gardeners of Stanislaus County and @UCMGStanislaus (respectively).
Resources
Sonoma Master Gardeners: https://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Food_Gardening/Additional_KG_Articles/Pumpkins/
UC IPM Cultural Tips for Growing Pumpkins
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/pumpkins/cultural-tips/index.html?src=307-pageViewHLS
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the sweltering heat of Solano County (100 degrees) during National Pollinator Month, how about an image of a sweat bee, genus Halictus, a tiny bee that's often overlooked in the world of pollinators.
It's a social bee that nests in the soil. "These nests consist of a complex of tunnels with individual brood chambers," according to California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday), the work of UC-affiliated scientists,
My camera caught this Halictus flying over Coreopsis in our Vacaville pollinator garden on June 5.
Camera: Nikon Z8 with a 50mm lens
Settings: Shutter speed, 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5; ISO 500.
UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, emeritus director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and Bohart Museum scientist Sandy Shanks said the species appears to be Halictus ligatus.
Most Halictus species are generalist foragers, according to the Great Sunflower Project. "They use all sorts of genera of plants from the Asteraceae to Scrophulariaceae. They are very common on composites (daisy-like disc and ray flowers) in summer and fall."
We've seen them on everything from mustard to milkweeds to catmint to rock purslane, from spring to fall. They also appear regularly on the tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii).
Not to mention the Coreopsis.
/span>- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Pampasgrass (Cortaderia selloana) is a common ornamental landscape plant that readily naturalizes throughout California's coastal areas and some interior regions. Historically, pampasgrass was planted for erosion control, but it has since escaped cultivation and spread along sandy, moist ditch banks throughout coastal regions of southern California. Pampagrass can also grow in the hot, dry climate of inland areas of California.
A similar-looking invasive grass, jubatagrass (Cortaderia jubata), is more widespread, aggressive, and is a major pest in coastal redwood forest areas. Jubatagrass thrives in cool, foggy environments and does not tolerate temperature extremes or drought.
Both pampasgrass and jubatagrass outcompete native plants; a single floral plume can make 100,000 seeds in a year. They create fire hazards with excessive build-up of dry leaves, leaf bases, and flowering stalks. In addition, their tough leaves have serrated edges that can easily cut skin.
What can you do?
Choose non-invasive ornamental grasses to plant in your garden or landscape. Many species, including native grasses, can resemble pampasgrass or jubatagrass. This includes several species of Muhlenbergia: deer grass, white awn muhly, and Lindheimer's muhly. California native Pacific reedgrass grows well on the coast and is deer resistant. For a large, tough bunchgrass, try giant sacaton, a native of the Southwest. Giant wildrye, another California native, will grow into dense stands that attract birds.
To learn more about these invasive species and alternatives to plant, visit https://plantright.org/invasive/cortaderia-selloana/ or https://plantright.org/invasive/cortaderia-jubata/.
For more information on their management, visit https://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/natural%20areas/wr_c/cortaderia_jubata-selloana.pdf.