Pay attention to your lawn, trees and shrubs for signs of this season’s pests. This will enable you to prepare your green for a tough defense against them. Check your trees, shrubs, and lawn for these current pests:
Problem: Dothistroma Needle Blight on Pines.
Symptoms: Look for interior needles that are gone from the bottom of the tree and lower limbs that tend to be bare. The needles will have scattered spotting and a half needle scorch. The outer needle will be brown and the inner needle will be green in different locations. Look for dark fruiting bodies on affected needles.
Problem: Bagworms, mostly on evergreens.
Symptoms: Look for last year’s bags and damage. Bagworms are easy to control when newly hatched in mid June but become increasingly difficult to control and more damaging as they mature.
Problem: Abnormal growths on leaves, twigs, and branches of trees.
Symptoms: Galls form as a response to a chemical that a number of wasps, mites, and flies inject into plants. This is a problem that is difficult to prevent, not usually harmful and best ignored.
Problem: Powdery Mildew on Lawns.
Symptoms: It looks like someone has cleaned up after using white paint by hosing it off out in your lawn. Usually found in shady areas with poor air circulation. It may damage the leaf blades but rarely causes lasting harm to the entire plant or lawn. Tall Fescue is less susceptible to this disease.
