University of Nebraska | Hort Update for the Week of 8/31/09 - Current Problems in the Lawn & Garden

http://extensionhorticulture.unl.edu/
Hort Update for the Week of 8/31/09
Current Problems in the Lawn & Garden

Lawns
1. It's time to... Fertilize, seed, aerate, and power rake cool season grasses
2. Stinkhorns- Orange, slimy, smelly fungi growing in wood mulch
3. Winter annual weed control- Apply pre-emergence herbicides if winter annuals are a problem
4. Billbug damage- Turfgrass areas appear drought stressed
5. Brown patch- Roughly circular patches of reddish brown grass
6. Dollar spot- Small circular patches of brownish tan grass
7. Summer patch- Circular or serpentine shaped areas of tan grass

Trees & Shrubs
8. Hackberry leaves yellowing- Premature leaf yellowing and leaf drop
9. Kermes scale- Off color or dead branch tips in oaks
10. Oak twig girdler- Dead and clipped branch tips in oaks
11. Honeylocust spider mite- Bronze colored leaves
12. Burcucumber/ wild cucumber- Rampant growing annual vines in windbreaks

Landscape Ornamentals
13. Black spot (rose)- Yellow leaves with black spots, defoliation
14. Soldier beetles- Reddish orange beetles with two black spots
15. Thrips- Flower buds fail to open or petals damaged when buds open

Fruits & Vegetables
16. Rosy apple aphids- Deformed and stunted fruit and leaves, sooty mold
17. Pear harvest- Harvest when mature, but not ripe
18. Picking rhubarb now- Best to wait until spring
19. Flowers, but no cucumber fruits- Poor pollination, environmental, gynoecious cukes
20. Slow ripening (tomato)- Cool nighttime temperatures likely cause
21. Fruit cracking (tomato)- Maintain consistent soil moisture, harvest when ripe
22. Internal blossom end rot- Blackening of inside of tomatoes, often Romas
23. Fall vegetables- what to plant- NebGuide on available on what and when to plant

General Issues
24. Wolf spider- Large, hairy spiders found indoors and outdoors, beneficial
25. Cobwebs on evergreens- Spiders, not spider mites, these are not a pest

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