Pest Management

lady beetle larvae crawling on a leaf
UC Master Gardeners of Solano County: Page

Ask a Master Gardener

Have a question about your garden? The UC Master Gardeners of Solano County are here to help!Our trained volunteers provide free, research-based advice on all aspects of home gardening, tailored to Solano County’s Mediterranean climate (Zones 9a, 9b, and 10a). We can help you:Identify plant problems, pests,…
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Person wearing gloves pouring liquid from a measuring cup into a spray bottle on cement.
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Upcoming Webinars from UC IPM

February 9, 2026
By Yulie Velez
If you missed our first Urban & Community IPM webinar of the year, Pests of Backyard Chickens, don’t fret, we have more for you! Join us every third Thursday of the month from 12:00pm to 1:00pm PT to learn about a wide range of urban pest management topics. This series is free and open to the…
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Several large, brilliant purple flowers scattered over dense, deep green leaves.

When Ornamentals Escape

January 20, 2026
By Cherie Shook
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…
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Short mushrooms growing at the edge of a lawn along mowing strip. Caps of mushrooms are whitish to light brown and appear cracked. Caps are flat with edges rolled down slightly.

Rains Bring Lawn Mushrooms

January 9, 2026
By Belinda Messenger-Sikes
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…
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UC Master Gardeners of Placer County: Article

Worms in My Apples: Non-chemical Control of Codling Moths

December 18, 2025
Jacqueline Champa, UC Master Gardeners of Placer County  From The Curious Gardener, Fall 2010All summer you looked forward to your first, fresh-picked apple of the season. Picking a beautiful apple off the tree, the only imperfection is a slight red spot on the skin---somewhat like a blossoming…
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UC Master Gardeners of Placer County: Article

Thrips on Nectarines

December 18, 2025
By Elaine Applebaum, UC Master Gardeners of Placer County Q: I have a lot of nectarines on my tree this year but most have ugly brown and yellow scabby-looking scars on them. They’re also much smaller than the ones in the grocery store. Some of the leaves are curled and distorted, too. What am I…
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UC Master Gardeners of Placer County: Article

Tomato Nematodes

December 7, 2025
By Elaine Applebaum, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyQ: Last year the Master Gardener Office diagnosed nematodes as the cause of my tomato crop and told me to change the location of my tomato bed next year. Unfortunately, I forgot all about it and planted this year’s tomatoes in the same place. Help…
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UC Master Gardeners of Placer County: Article

Mysterious Mistletoe

December 4, 2025
Laurie Meyerpeter, UC Master Gardener of Placer County From The Curious Gardener, Winter 2012Mistletoe. It’s weird, it’s poisonous, it’s a parasite, and yet we love mistletoe so much we manufacture plastic likenesses of the plant to hang it in our homes every winter! Is that weird or…
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