UC Master Gardeners of San Joaquin County

You might be surprised to learn that a few of your favorite ornamental plants are invasive to California and can “escape” your yard causing big problems in the wild. When plants escape landscape and garden boundaries, it is often due to seed distribution or aggressive roots. An invasive plant species can…

Winter rains and damp conditions in many parts of California may have brought a surprise visitor to your lawn: mushrooms! A few mushrooms sprouting in your lawn can be a good sign: it means there's plenty of organic matter in the soil. But if patches of mushrooms are sprinkled across your lawn, something…

 "Did you know that in one acre of almond orchard there can be more earthworms than the entire population of Los Angeles? What are they doing down there?"So asks Amanda Hodson, assistant professor of soil ecology and pest management, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematolgy, who will present a…

Climate And Agriculture: Farming in a Changing Climate WorkshopWhen: Tuesday January 20, 2026Time: 8:30 - 2:30 (lunch will be provided)Where: Ventura County Community Foundation, 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd, Suite A, Camarillo, CAUC ANR CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE WORKSHOPCamarillo, CA…

 Talk about a slugfest.Slugs took a liking to the milkweed in our pollinator garden. They stripped the leaves from one tender young plant and were munching on two other plants--until we dispatched them. We don't think they crossed the Rainbow Bridge. If they did, they left a slimy trail."Sorry,…

Forget Spotify Wrapped – can you guess which pests received the most hits on UC IPM’s Pests Notes page this year? Here are the top ten pests that made your year: (1) Carpet Beetles  For several years, carpet beetles have been in the top 5 on our playlist. Immature carpet beetles feed on…

Rain is wonderful stuff. If it comes and washes the accumulated salts of the last several years out of the root zones of citrus and avocado, that's a good thing. But what happens if there is a little too much of the good stuff? In the winter of 2005, Venture got over 40” of rain, which is 200% of what is…

 We have a winner!Drum roll...the winner of the 2026 Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest, sponsored by the Bohart Museum of Entomology is Lesley Hamamoto of Sacramento.She photographed a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on manzanita at  9…

TEMAS EN ESTA EDICIÓN - El Otono 2025• Resumen sobre la producción de dátiles• Directrices para el control del oídio de la uva• Pudrición seca de la raíz de los cítricos: una plaga persistente causada por elFusarium solani en California• La detección de plagas es necesaria para el estudio de investigación•…

A fruit tree is not a basil plant or a geranium.  It's a tree, and not only that it's a fruit tree.  Learn the basics and the intricacies of growing fruit trees of all kinds.  Sign up for a wild journey.Please join us for the 2026 Principles of Fruit and Nut Tree Growth, Cropping, and…

 Bruce Hammock, 1947-2026.I never thought I'd write that. UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock was an amazing scientist--a genius, really--an incredible mentor, and a good friend. He passed on Monday, Jan. 5, at age 78, and the world will never be the same.When I visited his office…

This is the recent newsletter from the Ojai Pixie Tangerine Growers Association.  Emily Ayala is the author.  I thought this is a great wake up call for ALL Citrus Growers with all the rain we have had and will have.  Get that copper on. Ben Happy New Year! Well, we've got the rain…

 Friday, Jan. 9 is the deadline to register for the two long-awaited workshops: The Science of Honey Tasting and The Science of Mead Tasting.Coordinated by the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP), based at the University of California, Davis, and Z Food Specialty/The HIVE, Woodland, both of the…

 Doctoral candidate Mia Lippey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, an outstanding scholar and self-described "life-long lover of all things insect-related," is looking forward to delivering her exit seminar.An entomologist and ecologist active in both the Entomological Society…

 New Year's Day is not only the beginning of a year, but it's also the beginning of two UC Davis insect contests: one involving a cabbage white butterfly, and the other, a bumble bee.Chances are no one won either one today, as it's been raining almost non-stop, and the 10-day forecast predicts an 80…

 2025: Celebrating a Year of Bloom, Stewardship and Growing Community Impact"This year at the UC Davis Bee Haven, the garden blossomed with vibrant growth and renewal, reflected not only in the flourishing landscape but also in the increasing engagement and enthusiasm of the many visitors discovering…

 A new cockroach in town?That's what a UC Davis retired professor thought on Tuesday, Dec. 23 when he spotted an unusual cockroach emerging from his shower drain at his Davis home.He said he "recognized  it as unusual and caught it. It was a male Turkestan cockroach, Blatta lateralis, a species…