Every year Washington D.C. experiences an influx of tourists looking not only for White House tours, pictures at the Lincoln Memorial and investigating the Smithsonian Museums, but to stroll the Mall and streets absorbing the beauty and bounty of blooming cherry trees. The ornamental cherries filling the capital with beautiful blossoms and perfumes were a…
The slow transition to spring has affected pest insects and their predators, but a discussion of beneficial insects is always relevant. Solitary bees are not often the subject of scrutiny or even interest, the concern over the health and decline of pollinator population seems to be solely focused on hive bees while those solitary species in…
The American elm was once dominant on the landscape, an iconic symbol of the nation’s landscape, but has unfortunately succumbed to a fungal disease introduced from Europe in the 1900s. The graceful, large elm trees widely planted in the suburban landscape for its shade, tolerance of poor soil conditions and fast growth. However, in the…
The Asian wasp, Trissolcus japonicus, has been identified in the wild at a study site in Beltsville, MD. This wasp originates from the same region as the brown marmorated stinkbug (BMSB) and preys on the eggs of those insects along with other stinkbugs. While this wasp isn’t known to sting or hurt humans in any way,…
2015 has been named the “International Year of Soil” (IYS) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) has developed activities to support educational outreach, assigning a theme for each month of the year. April’s theme is “Soils Clean and Capture Water”. Rainwater usually falls with little to no impurities, once it reaches the planet’s…
Spring cleaning for our landscapes can be a tricky undertaking. We want to dive in a trim everything up, dig it out from under mulch and leaves and start planting, but some restraint may need to be shown so that ornamentals don’t sustain damage in the process. There is a rule of thumb that goes…
Louisville, KY recently conducted a study of its urban canopy and the results, which were just made public, are distressing to say the least. The city has been losing approximately 54,000 trees per year for the past several years, that amounts to the mortality of about 150 trees per day! Katy Schneider, co-chair of the Louisville Metro…
Oak wilt is a tree disease affecting oak trees caused by the fungus Ceratocystic fagacearum. The disease has been found in 21 states causing the most damage in the midwest. It was first found in Wisconsin in 1944 where localized pockets of mortality were found; nearly half the oaks an area of less than…
A study recently published in the journal “Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution” discussed ants’ ability to collectively search in zero gravity conditions. Researchers were happily surprised to find this when a collective of ants were taken to the International Space Station to study how these insects adapt to low or no gravity. While ants did still…
Named “Methuselah” for its extreme inveterate growth, the 2,000 year old Judean date palm has produced viable offspring! Agricultural expert Elaine Solowey from the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura in Israel shared the good news with National Geographic; “He is over three meters [ten feet] tall, he’s got a few offshoots, he has…
