Issue no. 1 of the Home, Yard & Garden Newsletter is now available
IN THIS ISSUE:
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First Issue for 2014
This is the first issue of the University of Illinois
Extension Home, Yard, and Garden Pest Newsletter for 2014. It is written to
keep professional landscapers, arborists, golf course superintendents, lawn
care personnel, and garden center operators up-to-date on the commercial
management of diseases, weeds, insects, and other pests.
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New ICLT Available
The 2014 issue of the Illinois Commercial Landscape and
Turfgrass Pest Management Handbook is available at the University of Illinois'
PubsPlus web site.
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Rabbits
The extended snow cover and cold weather during the
winter has resulted in severe rabbit feeding damage to shrubs and small trees.
Eastern cottontail is the primary rabbit species in Illinois. They are active
through the winter primarily feeding on leafy vegetation from the previous
summer.
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Meadow Vole
Meadow voles eat runways through turf and strip bark off
of trees and shrubs below the snow during the winter. These field mice are
larger than house mice with broad heads and short tails. Last winter with its
lingering snow cover was ideal for voles to live and feed under the snow with
little predator impact.
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Spruce Spider Mite
Conifer feeding mites including spruce spidermite,
arborvitae mite, juniper mite, and pine mite are active at this time of year.
They should be feeding with this year's late spring through late April in
southern Illinois, mid-May in central Illinois, and late May in northern
Illinois.
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Have Patience With Plants Injured During the Winter
Welcoming spring temperatures have finally arrived and
allowed us to return to our gardens and landscapes. Even with onset of the nice
weather, the harsh conditions of the past winter are still fresh in our
memories. One of the major concerns we have entering the growing season
is how the harsh winter may have affected the plants in our landscapes.
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2014 Season at the University of Illinois Plant Clinic
Samples have been steadily appearing this spring here at
the Clinic in our 39th year of operation. On the field front, there have
been concerns with virus disease diagnosis in wheat. On the home
landscape front, there is a mountain of winter kill and windburn injury from
the harsh winter just past.
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Boxwood Winter Injury
Boxwood plants are susceptible to winter injury in
central and northern Illinois when warm winter days are followed by freezing
temperatures. The warm days deceive the plant into breaking dormancy and taking
up water. Then when the sun goes down, the temperature drops, and that causes
the water in the leaf tissue to freeze. The expanding ice within the plant
splits and kills cells.
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Prostrate Knotweed -- A Harbinger of Spring
Prostrate knotweed (Polygonum aviculare) is one of the
first summer (warm season) annual weeds to germinate, first appearing when soil
temperatures are only in the 40's. For this reason, I know that spring has
arrived when I see it emerge.
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Modified Growing Degree Days (Base 50°F, March 1
through April 24)
Insect development is temperature dependent. We can use
degree days to help predict insect emergence and activity. In warm years,
insects emerge earlier, like we experienced last spring. Degree day
accumulations are slightly behind the 11-year average.
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Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month
As we near the end of April we are getting ready to
embark on another Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month (ISAM) beginning in
May. Central to this year's events is the theme that "Invasive Species
Affect Everyone!" If you live in Illinois, work in Illinois, recreate in
Illinois, or just simply breathe in Illinois, invasive species affect you!
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