Plum Pox Virus (PPV) is a pathogen with the potential to devastate populations of peach, plum and other stone fruit trees. The United States and Canada maintain strict protocols and implement zero tolerance regarding discoveries of PPV in any nurseries or orchards. Aggressive and effective, but costly, eradication efforts have taken place in Pennsylvania, New…
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With the highest, concentrated populations living along coastlines it is important that our landscape plants be tolerant of higher soil salinity, salt spray and drift. A major component of salt is concentrated sodium, which is damaging to plant tissue, both foliage and roots. Very high salinity levels can stunt plant growth, even killing some plants. If excessive…
DetailsThis week my colleague Dexter Locke and I had the opportunity to present at the DE / MD APA 2014 Regional Planning Conference. We presented on the suite of urban tree canopy tools available to planners. While many tree canopy goal efforts have focused disproportionately on tree planting, strategies for all variables in the equation below…
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Rose rosette is a novel threat to seemingly all cultivars of roses, even those previously known and used specifically for their disease resistance. Symptoms include: increased shoot elongation, reddish discoloration of shoots and foliage, abundant clustering of small shoots (also called “witches broom”), spiraling growth of main stem, less space between leaf shoots, distorted leaves, prolific…
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The pathogen that causes boxwood blight, Calonectria pseudonaviculata, is able to infect every species in the Buxaceae family. A recent article in Plant Health Progress, authored by Dr. Jim LaMondia of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), states that both Allegheny spurge, Pachysandra procumbens, and the more commonly planted Japanese spurge, Pachysandra terminalis, are potential hosts for…
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In honor of creepiest, scariest night of the year this post will pay tribute to some of the most horrifyingly poisonous plants on the planet. Terrifying trees and plants have long played a part in the imagination of humans, from the 1800s when rumors of a man-eating tree received widespread public attention to the more recent and infamous…
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For over 250 years a bur oak has been growing on what is now the campus of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The University is currently constructing its new Ross School of Business and the large tree’s seniority has run out, it stands in the way of progress. However, rather than just cutting…
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Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have been awarded a 6.9 million dollar grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop sustainable pollination strategies for the country’s specialty crops. In this country specialty crops account for 50 billion dollars per year for the agricultural industry and pollination is critical to fruit set…
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Since 2009 the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, located at the University of Texas at Austin, has been partnered with the Garden Club of America, The National Invasive Species Council and the National Park Service to educate the public and promote best practices for the prevention of invasive species from taking over parklands and natural areas.…
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One of the most common and yet widely unknown beneficial insects on our landscapes is the common black ground beetle (CBGB), Pterostichus spp.. The dullish appear and nocturnal and reclusive behavior is partly to blame for their obscurity, in spite of all of the great benefits of their inclusion in our landscapes. These incredibly valuable players in our…
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