Winter is the best time to thin trees to keep them healthy and protect them from disease, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “Pruning trees when they are dormant is a way to protect them from diseases such as oak wilt or Dutch elm disease that are active during the growing season,” said Jennifer…
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Introduction The spruce spider mite is considered one of the most destructive spider mites in the United States. It injures the foliage of spruce, arborvitae, juniper, hemlock, pine, Douglas-fir, and occasionally other conifers. Damage This species damages host plants by sucking plant fluid from needles as they feed. Infested trees at first have a…
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What is Oak Wilt? Oak wilt is a vascular disease of oak caused by a nonnative fungus. It is one of the most serious diseases of oak in the eastern United States, killing thousands of trees each year. Where site conditions favor disease, the fungus can spread from tree to tree, killing most if not…
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Plant Health Care has been defined as the selection, integration and implementation of pest control based on predicted economic, ecological and sociological consequences. Today, perhaps more than ever this approach is relevant to all landscape pest, nutritional management and care. Societal concerns about pesticide use, their value to the landscape and the method of application…
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The black death, a cold black heart, fear of the dark, black cats, don’t go to the dark side! The idea that something that is dark or black is in some way evil is deeply engrained in our culture. Many of these instances are for good reason. Thanks to this prevailing opinion, a very common…
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While we might think of them as self-sufficient, big and strong, the mighty oak tree has become a major target for the killer disease known as “oak wilt”. For some time now this disease has been slowly moving across our state by way of an insect called “sap beetles”. It can also be root grafted…
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