Spring is here and if you are like us, you can't wait to get outside and see how your plants and garden are doing! As usual, UC IPM has useful tips for the month of April to prevent pests in the garden and landscape. To see more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website. Here are some general tips to get you started:
- Cover fruit trees with netting to exclude birds and other vertebrate pests.
- Aphids are out already so look for them and their natural enemies such as predaceous bugs like lacewings, lady beetles, and syrphid flies. On sturdy plants, spray aphids off with a strong stream of water or apply insecticidal oils or insecticidal soaps to kill them.
- Manage ants. Plants infested with honeydew producing insects like aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs may attract ants who take that honeydew back to the nest to feed the colony. Manage ants around landscape and building foundations using insecticide baits and trunk barriers.
- Whitewash tree trunks to deter borers and prevent sunburn. Apply to young trees or older bark on susceptible trees newly exposed to sunlight.
- Look for signs of clearwing moths boring in ash, birch, pine, poplar, and willow.
- Check for signs of powdery mildew on apple, crape myrtle, grape, rose, and stone fruits. Take preventative measures, like pruning, to provide better air circulation between plants.
- Watch for yellowjackets and other wasps building nests in undesirable locations. Knock down newly started nests and use lure or water traps to control populations.
- Prevent mosquitoes by eliminating standing water in gutters, drain pipes, flowerpots, etc. Place Bt “dunks” (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) in birdbaths and ponds to selectively kill mosquito larvae.
- Adjust watering practices as rainfall decreases. Check irrigation systems for leaks and broken emitters and perform maintenance as needed. Consider upgrading the irrigation system to improve its water efficiency.
- Monitor stone fruit trees for pests such as aphids, borers, brown rot, caterpillars, powdery mildew, and scale insects.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Follow these general tips for the month of March to prevent pests in the garden and landscape. To view more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Look for aphids and their natural enemies such as predaceous bugs, lacewings, lady beetles, and syrphid flies. On small plants, spray a strong stream of water or apply insecticidal oils or insecticidal soaps to kill them.
- Fertilize caneberries, citrus, deciduous fruit trees, palms, and heavily-flowering shrubs with slow-release products.
- Monitor for the crawler stage of scale insects and apply horticultural oil if scales are abundant.
- Remove weeds as soon as they pop up in the garden or landscape.
- Apply organic mulches where thin or soil is bare under trees and shrubs to prevent weeds and regulate soil moisture and temperature. Keep mulch back from trunks and at a depth of 2 to 4 inches, depending on the mulch type.
- Prevent mosquitoes by eliminating standing water in gutters, drain pipes, flowerpots, etc. Place Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis in birdbaths and ponds to selectively kill mosquito larvae.
- If olive psyllid was a problem in past years, use an appropriate insecticide when the first generation of psyllids appear.
- Whitewash tree trunks to deter borers and prevent sunburn. Apply to young trees or older bark on susceptible trees newly exposed to sunlight.
- Keep an eye out for codling moth adults on apple and pear. Bag fruit and promptly remove infested or dropped fruit.
- Apply blossom sprays to prevent new fire blight infections. Look for oozing and dead limbs on pome plants such as apple, crabapple, pear, and pyracantha as soon as spring growth begins.
- Check for signs of powdery mildew on apple, crape myrtle, grape, rose, and stone fruits. Take preventative measures, like pruning, to provide better air circulation between plants.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!
Follow these general tips for the month of February to prevent pest in the garden and landscape. To view more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checkliston the UC IPM website.
- Protect sensitive plants from freezing and frost damage.
- Check grapes for pests like powdery mildew, Eutypa dieback, Phomopsis cane and leaf spot, and others.
- Paint or varnish and seal wood to deter carpenter bees. If intolerable, treat tunnels during early spring.
- Prevent mosquitoes by eliminating standing water in gutters, drain pipes, flowerpots, etc. Place Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis in birdbaths and ponds to selectively kill mosquito larvae.
- Apply a preventive spray for peach leaf curl once or more during late fall through bud break in spring if leaf curl has been a problem on nectarine or peach.
- Prune evergreen, summer-flowering shrubs.
- Manage weeds using nonchemical methods such as cultivation, handweeding, or mowing. Control young weeds as soon as they pop up.
- Whitewash tree trunks to deter borers and prevent sunburn. Apply to young trees or older bark on susceptible trees newly exposed to sunlight.
- Apply organic mulches where thin or soil is bare under trees and shrubs to prevent weeds and regulate soil moisture and temperature. Keep mulch back from trunks and at a depth of 2 to 4 inches, depending on the mulch type.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Did you know that UC IPM has an online tool that provides month-by-month pest prevention and management tips? It's called the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist! You can select your region of California to view activities to do in the landscape each month. You can also subscribe to receive an email at the beginning of each month for your designated region.
Follow these general tips for the month of January. To view more tips specific to your region, visit the checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Monitor for damage and pests such as brown rot, snails, and Asian citrus psyllid on citrus plants.
- Clean up mummies and old fruit and nuts around trees to avoid harboring pests. Remove fallen leaves from beneath deciduous fruit trees and roses.
- Protect sensitive plants from freezing and frost damage.
- Adjust irrigation schedules according to the weather and plants' changing need for water. Reduce irrigation frequency or turn off systems if rainfall is adequate. Irrigate deeply but infrequently if the winter is dry.
- Prevent mosquitoes by eliminating standing water in gutters, drain pipes, flowerpots, etc. Place Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis in birdbaths and ponds to selectively kill mosquito larvae.
- Apply a preventive spray for peach leaf curl once or more during late fall through bud break in spring if leaf curl has been a problem on nectarine or peach.
- Prune deciduous trees and shrubs such as apple, crape myrtle, pear, rose, spirea, and stone fruits. Make cuts properly to encourage good form and structure. Remove dead, diseased, and borer-infested wood. Certain pests (e.g. shothole borer) and host plants such as apricot and cherry warrant summer pruning.
- Manage weeds using nonchemical methods such as cultivation and handweeding, or mowing. Control young weeds as soon as they pop up.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!