Frequently Asked Questions

General

1. What is a rain barrel?  Can I use rain water collected from my home's downspouts on my landscape plants?
    
2. This is a viewer bought jelly crystals in a store, those that expand to a hundred times their original size in water. They wonder whether they can actually put it in their garden soil to retain moisture or will it do any damage to the plants?

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Fruit Diseases

1. My apple tree is dropping leaves like crazy! Almost half the foliage is gone and the remaining leaves have orangish-spots. Cedar-apple rust
    
2. The leaves of my peach tree have strange, puffy, pinkish growths that I've never seen before. What is this? Peach leaf curl
    
3. Stems of my raspberry plants are dying. What could be wrong? Ostershell scale

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Household Insects

1. This viewer thinks they had wireworms invading last fall. They're wondering whether there's anything they can do to keep the bugs from invading the house next fall. Wireworm
    
2. Help! The south side of my house is covered with black and orange bugs. And their finding their way into the house. What can I do to get rid of them? Boxelder bugs

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Ornamental Diseases

1. I had Botrytis in my peonies last year.  What can I do to protect them this year? Botrytis
    
2. This viewer thinks they have verticillium wilt in a Smoketree. Is there a way to tell before they take action? And if it is, then what happens? Verticillium wilt

Ornamental Insect Problems

1. My roses have round sections chewed out of the leaves.  What's causing this and will it damage my plants? Leaf cutter bees
    
2. Grasshoppers are chewing up my vegetables and flowers.  How can I get rid of them? Grasshoppers

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Trees & Shrubs

1.  Large sections of the outer branches on my holly bush have brown, dried leaves this spring. It was fine in the fall, but now I'm finding all these brown leaves. What's going on? Dessication
    
2. A couple of evergreen questions with similar problems, even though the trees are different.  Forty 1-year old pines are turning yellowish on the south side of the trees in late April.  The south side does get more wind than the other side. The second tree is an arborvitae that is also turning brown.  What is happening? Dessication
    
3. Parts of my juniper tree are turning brown. When I look closely I see there are many small cocoons hanging from underneath the branches. What's damaging my tree? Bagworms
    
4. My Austrian pine tree has a lot of brown needles. What's the problem? Dothistroma needle blight
    
5. Suddenly this fall, my evergreen trees have many needles that are starting to change color or turn yellow. My trees aren't dying, are they? Natural needle drop
    
6. My ornamental plum tree has large black swellings on several of the branches. What is this and will it kill my tree? Black knot gall
    
7. Is there something that can be applied around the ash trees to keep them from getting Emerald Ash borer (EAB)? Emerald Ash borer
    
8. My lilac is not growing well and some stems are even dying.  What is wrong? Oystershell scale

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Pruning

1. When do I prune my spring flowering shrubs?
   
   
2. My ornamental plum tree has large black swellings on several branches.  What is this and will it kill my tree? Black knot gall
    
3. This Japanese Weeping cherry has developed a split and several of the limbs are starting to grow up and not down.  What can I do?
   

Tree Insects

1. Parts of my juniper tree are turning brown.  When I look closely I see there are many small cocoons hanging from underneath the branches.  What's damaging my tree? Bagworm
    
2. If homeowers don't see any bagworms on their evergreen trees, but know that trees in the neighborhood are affected how many times they should spray their trees and with what if they don't see them.
    
3. Small greenish caterpillars are eating the needles on my evergreen trees.  What are these insects and how can I control them? Pine sawfly
    
4. What is this webby mass on top of my River Birch, and will to come back? Fall webworm

Tree Diseases

1. My Austrian pine tree has a lot of brown needles.  What's the problem? Dothistroma needle blight
    
2. Cedar trees in my windbreak are turning brown at the base. I can't find any insects, but it's getting worse every year. What's wrong? Cercospora blight
   
   
3. Suddenly this fall, my evergreen trees have many needles that are starting to change color or turn yellow. My trees aren't dying, are they? Natural needle drop
    
4. I'm worried about this disease of pine trees I have been hearing about. What is it and can it be prevented? Pine wilt
    
5. My ornamental plum tree has large black swellings on several branches.  What is this and will it kill my tree? Black knot gall
    
6. My crabapple tree is dropping leaves like crazy! Almost half the foliage is gone and the remaining leaves have orangish-spots. Cedar-apple rust
    
7. My Ash tree has orange spots on the leaves and some leaves are falling.  Is this a disease? Ash rust

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Turf Establishment & Management

1. With cool season grasses is it good to aerate in spring and then seed the lawn?
    
2. I had sod installed on a sandy ground and it does not seem to be rooting down.  What can I do?
    
3. Are lawn fertilizers basically all the same?  Particularly with the lower cost store brand or off brand, or the big name brands?
    
4. I have a large Linden tree and the turf under it does not grow well.  I think it because the tree is taking all the water.  What kind of fertilizer do I need to make it grow?

Turf & Landscape Insects

1. I have mounds of soil in lawn, I think it is worms. Could it be anything else? Earthworms
    
2. This is a viewer that has pavement ants where the concrete foundation and wooden structure of the house meet. They say it is difficult to get a granular control in there in the basement. How can they kill them? Pavement ants
    
3. Last year we had an infestation in the yard of very large, black & yellow wasps, which I understand are cicada killer wasps.  How can I get rid of them? Cicada killer wasps
    
4. Grasshoppers are chewing up my vegetables and flowers.  How can I get rid of them? Grasshoppers

Turf Diseases

1. Every year my lawn develops brownish areas, where dead grass blades are mixed with green blades. Sometimes there appears to be a circular pattern to the areas, but not always. I think this is a disease problem, but haven't had success getting rid of it. What do you recommend? Brown patch

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Vegetables

1. How do I plant asparagus?
    
2. Can you sprinkle rock salt on the base of asparagus to keep weeds out of it?
    
3. When and where do I pick morel mushrooms?
   

Vegetable Diseases

1. We're having a lot of trouble with diseases in tomatoes. Leaves turn brown from the bottom of the plant and move upward.  Is it a blight or a wilt?  We've moved the plants and rotated them to a new location in the garden but this hasn't helped.  So now we're thinking about creating raised beds. Will that help if these are soil fungi?
    
2. I would like to start seeds inside.  I have started them, but as soon as they start growing, they just fall over and die. What am I doing wrong?
    
3. My tomatoes have dry, black patches on the botton end.  What is this and how can I stop it? Blossom end rot

Vegetable Insects

1. Grasshoppers are chewing up my vegetables and flowers.  How can I get rid of them? Grasshoppers

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Weed Control

1. What is the best time to apply pre-emergent herbicide to my lawn to control crabgrass, foxtail and annual broadleaf weeds?
    
2. How can I control henbit?
    
3. My neighbor had nutsedge last year; did the seed blow into my lawn? If so, how will I get rid of it?
    
4. How can we control nutsedge in our yard?
    
5. I have many weedy trees in my fence line, I would like to cut them down and apply Tordon. I do have some desirable cedars nearby. Will Tordon effect the cedars?
    
6. How and when do you control nimblewill?
    
7. I have a vining weed in my flower beds and lawn with thin stems and alternate, spade-shaped leaves.  It has white or pinkish flowers. Is this bindweed and how can I get rid of it?
    
8. How can you control Wild Violets in a lawn without killing the turf?

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Wildlife

1. There are paths or runways of clipped turfgrass throughout my yard.  What is causing this and how do I repair my lawn?
    
2. How can garter snakes be controlled in the home landscape?
    
3. We have squirrels getting into our bird feeders. We have added cayenne pepper to the seed, but it does not seem to help.
    
4. Is there a repellent to stop squirrels from chewing on my shrubs?
    
5. Something is making holes in the lawn; pieces of turf are tossed to one side and there are holes in the turf about the size of a quarter.

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