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Urban IPM in Yolo, Sacramento, and Solano counties

Welcome

syrphid fly
This is the web page of Karey Windbiel-Rojas, Area Urban Integrated Pest Management Advisor for UC Cooperative Extension serving Sacramento, Yolo, and Solano counties.

For information on various home, garden, turf, and landscape pests, please visit the UC Statewide IPM Program web site to find specific science-based pest management information.

If you have home or garden pest questions, contact your local UC Master Gardener office by visiting their web site or help line:

Yolo County or call (530) 666-8143
Sacramento County or call (916) 876-5338
Solano County or call (707) 784-1322

You can also find UC Master Gardeners offices in other counties at http://mg.ucanr.edu/FindUs.

Contact information:
2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95618
(530) 750-1241 (office)
(916) 291-7791 (cell)
kwindbiel@ucanr.edu

 

 

 

 

Follow my blog and the UC IPM statewide blog:

Urban Pest News
  • TLE-2022-Karey-Windbiel-Rojas-062322
    Organic Herbicides presentation on June 23

    For anyone interested in how organic herbicides compare to glyphosate in turf and landscape situations, come join this live webinar on June 23 at 11:00 PST. I will present data from recent research trials and discuss considerations for using organic...


    By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
    Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
  • California ground squirrel
    Squirrels: Topic for Webinar on May 19

    If you are battling with ground squirrels or tree squirrels around your home or property, join us on Thursday, May 19 at noon for UC IPM's one-hour seminar on Squirrels! Dr. Niamh Quinn, UC ANR's Human-Wildlife Interaction Advisor in Orange, Los Angeles,...


    By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
    Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
  • Before and after hosing aphids off with water. [Credit: K. Windbiel-Rojas]
    Hose off those aphids!

    I've been hearing people say the aphids are really bad this year. While we can't confirm whether that is true, I know my roses are covered! There are many ways aphids can be controlled in the garden and landscape. Naturally occurring insects such as lady...


    By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
    Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
  • Invasive pests.
    Invasive pests: Stopping the Spread

    Invasive pests threaten California's natural environments, agricultural production, structures, landscapes and gardens, causing billions of dollars of damage to our agricultural systems and natural areas each...


    By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
    Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
  • Infographic on disinfectants from National Pesticide Information Center.
    Using Disinfectants Correctly

    Many people have increased their use of disinfectants and sanitizers due to the COVID-19 crisis. It is important to use these products correctly to ensure they are effective and to protect one's health. See the infograph below from the National Pesticide...


    By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
    Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor
Pests in the Urban Landscape
  • Figure 1. Poison hemlock flowers and leaves. Photo by Paige Filler, Flickr.
    Poisonous Plants in the Landscape

    Plentiful rainfall in California this spring created an ideal environment for many plants to thrive, including wildflowers, trees, and shrubs that desperately needed the water. However, other potentially harmful species also benefited from the unusually...


    By Lauren Fordyce
    Author - Urban and Community IPM Educator
  • Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfectant products and microfiber towel. Photo by A. Katrina Hunter.
    Disinfectants and Sterilizers: The Lesser-known Pesticides

    Did you know that disinfectants and sterilizers are pesticides? Any substance that claims to kill, destroy, prevent, or repel a pest, including germs, is considered a pesticide. So cleaning products that claim to sterilize or kill germs on surfaces or...


    By Lauren Fordyce
    Author - Urban and Community IPM Educator
  • Figure 1. Adult dotted paropsine leaf beetle. Photo by Martin Lagerwey.
    Another Eucalyptus Pest: The Dotted Paropsine Leaf Beetle

    Eucalypt trees have become abundant in the California landscape, but so have the many invasive eucalypt pests that have arrived in California in the last couple decades. In the fall of 2022, yet another invasive pest was added to the hoard of...


    By Mackenzie Patton
    Author - Community Education Specialist
  • Figure 4. Coast live oak with limbs killed by the sudden oak death pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, possibly spread from nearby infected California Bay laurel. Photo by Pavel Svihra.
    Sudden oak death: what is it?

    Sudden oak death (SOD) is a disease syndrome that has killed millions of native oak trees (Figure 1) along the west coast of the United States, from Big Sur in California up to Southern Oregon. The disease may involve several organisms, but its main...


    By Steven Swain
    Author - Environmental Horticulture Advisor
  • Cochineal scales on a prickly pear cactus. Photo by Lauren Fordyce, UC IPM.
    White After Labor Day?

    It may be after Labor Day, but some of your plants may still be wearing white, breaking that long-standing fashion “rule”! While many of us don't adhere to this old rule for our wardrobes these days, you may care about white stuff on your...


    By Lauren Fordyce
    Author - Urban and Community IPM Educator