Pest Management & Plant Health

It’s almost Halloween, so many of us are thinking about jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and mummies. When you think of a mummy, you probably imagine the scary kind inspired by the ancient Egyptian ritual of preserving the bodies of the dead. When we talk about mummies at UC IPM, we mean something completely…

Have you noticed groups of black bugs with colorful markings hanging out on the sidewalk or your porch? Maybe you’ve seen them on fruit trees or in your veggie garden. It can seem like they’re everywhere, but what are they? Where you find them can give you a clue about what they are and how to handle…

How to identify the pests that are damaging your lawn What is wrecking your lawn? It could be skunks, raccoons, moles, voles, pocket gophers, or lawn insects. Each leave behind evidence and signs of their presence.Skunks are out at dusk, during the night, and at dawn in residential areas searching for…

Crabgrass popping up in your lawn or landscape can be aggravating, but don't despair -- you can manage this common annual weed with integrated pest management!  First, make sure that you are dealing with crabgrass and not a lookalike grass like dallisgrass or bermudagrass. The newly revised Pest Notes:…

UC IPM recently hosted a webinar about invasive plant management in California. During the presentation, our speakers Constance Taylor and Jutta Burger from the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) answered live questions from attendees. Below are some of those questions and answers. If you…

Virtual Fencing: A New Tool for Livestock and Land Management Virtual fencing (VF) is a precision agriculture tool gaining traction across California’s diverse rangelands. It uses GPS collars to contain livestock without physical fences. Producers set virtual boundaries across their pasture from a…

Succulents like aloes and agaves are common landscape plants throughout much of California and are prized both for their beauty and their drought tolerant features. Unfortunately there are several arthropod pests that can damage or even kill these hardy plants. Below are three pests you should be aware of if…