How are your plant identification skills? Personally, without a reference, I tend to have difficulty identifying some of the less commonly used trees in the landscape. However, being a disease diagnostician/plant pathologist I do have a fallback strategy – the diseases. One of the key points here is some symptoms are so characteristic of, or…Read more about Half the Battle[Read More]
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THREE DAYS REMAINING TO REGISTER! Join Purdue Extension Specialists and Diagnosticians on August 18, 2021 in downtown Indianapolis for a walking tour of diagnosing plant problems. In addition to the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab diagnosticians, the entomology, urban forestry, and nursery and landscape specialists will guide attendees through the diagnostic process and provide…Read more about Purdue Landscape and Arboriculture Diagnostic Tour-LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER[Read More]
Biology: Common bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is the most commonly used turfgrass in the southern United States, but it is also a difficult-to-control weed in northern turf. Bermudagrass is a drought tolerant, warm-season, perennial grass species that tolerates low mowing and actively spreads vegetatively by both rhizomes and stolons but also has the ability to spread by…Read more about Spotlight on Weeds: Common Bermudagrass[Read More]
First identified on coleus in the US in 2005, downy mildew has become an annual threat to production of this popular annual. The disease may be caused by the pathogens Peronospora lamii (also infects basil, as well as several species of Salvia and Lamium) or P. belbaharii (also infects basil). The symptoms may range from…Read more about Coleus Downy Mildew[Read More]
Along with many other industries, the green industry experienced changes in the last few years. Since the 2008-2009 recession, the industry has shown signs of recovery, especially for some sectors. More recently, mitigation measures due to COVID-19 and mandatory business shutdowns are expected to contract revenues from landscaping services slightly until 2021; yet revenues are…Read more about The Economic Contribution of the Indiana Green Industry, 2020 Report[Read More]
Rhizoctonia is not very picky. The fungus has a very wide plant host range where it can act as an endophyte, not causing damage to the colonized plant; a mycorrhizal symbiont, in some cases being essential for the hosts survival, like in some orchid species; and, as we commonly see it, a pathogen that causes…Read more about Rhizoctonia Web Blight[Read More]
Dead leaves covering trees (image 1) or on the ground beneath them (image 2) in July would normally be a worrying sign for tree health, but this year much of the damage can be blamed on 17-year cicadas. This damage is unlikely to cause serious trouble for healthy, large trees and management is relatively simple….Read more about Unexpected Dead Leaves? They might be the last sign of the 17-year cicada[Read More]
Diagnosing herbicide injury on ornamental plants can be difficult due to the sheer number of cultivated plants and the number of active ingredients used around ornamentals. Modern cultivars of ornamental plants include characteristics much different from the species, so it’s important to know ‘normal’ to properly diagnose a problem. There are several reasons that herbicide…Read more about Diagnosing Herbicide Injury on Ornamentals[Read More]
Join us tomorrow at noon (Eastern) June 23rd for a conversation on roots and wire baskets. Kyle Daniel will be joining you to discuss the current research on transplanting plants in pots and wire baskets. To join via Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/9207718963?pwd=MGtCUDJ1Y0hCTStXcGZoSEJhdVZMQT09 To join via Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/PurdueLandscapeReport/
Join Purdue Extension Specialists and Diagnosticians on August 18, 2021 in downtown Indianapolis for a walking tour of diagnosing plant problems. In addition to the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab diagnosticians, the entomology, urban forestry, and nursery and landscape specialists will guide attendees through the diagnostic process and provide solutions to problems encountered on…Read more about Purdue Landscape and Arboriculture Diagnostic Tour[Read More]
We receive a lot of ailing conifers at the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory each year. We received 870 ornamental plant samples in 2020 and 190 (21.8%) of them were conifers. While arborvitaes (Thuja spp.) do not beat out spruce in the number of samples we receive in a given year, they make up 20% of our conifer samples (39 in total…Read more about Arborvitae Needle Blight[Read More]
Finally, spring has sprung and summer is on its way. The hot days and warm nights are welcome for us, but summer isn’t always so kind to our trees, especially in our urban forest and landscapes. Trees are dynamic living organisms that respond to external stimuli in very strategic ways and each season presents its…Read more about Summer Tree Care[Read More]
Early summer is a great time to protect trees and shrubs from bagworms. By this time, they have had a few weeks to feed and have become large enough to find, even though they try to hide by covering themselves with leaves. Typically, these insects are found on evergreen trees and shrubs, like junipers, spruce,…Read more about Bagworms are Easy to Find and Control in Early Summer[Read More]
What happened Now is an important time to take a close look at your boxwoods. Plants infested with the invasive box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) may have been accidentally transported into Indiana. This moth is native to Asia and has long been the scourge of boxwoods (Buxus sp.) in Europe. It was first detected in…Read more about New Pest Alert: Watch your boxwoods for this moth[Read More]
The Purdue Turf and Landscape Field Day will be back July 13th! Join us at the Daniel Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center on the Purdue University West Lafayette campus. The Purdue Turf and Landscape Field Day is an annual one-day event with the objective of providing professional turf and landscape managers exposure and educational opportunities…Read more about Field Day Returns![Read More]
There are many age-old, philosophical questions that people have been arguing over for many years. What is the meaning of life? Nature or nurture? Do aliens exist? Should I remove the wire and burlap from B&B plant material? The last question has been debated for many years, with almost everyone having a different opinion. There…Read more about Wire Baskets: Leave them or remove them?[Read More]
Whether it be a hail storm, late frost, or an early season pest, springtime is when Mother Nature tests the patience of even the most experienced gardeners. While many gardeners have learned the hard way not to plant during a warm spell two weeks before the frost-free date, many more are unable to resist the…Read more about Prevent Summer Pests With A Dose of Patience[Read More]
Rhizomatous bearded iris (Iris x germanica) is a favorite early spring perennial; however, it is routinely troubled by a fungal leaf spot that tends to appear soon after flowering (Figure 1). These start as small wet-looking lesions that may quickly enlarge into larger spots with brownish edges, tan centers and yellow margins (Figure 2). When…Read more about Iris Leaf Spot[Read More]
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