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UMass Extension Landscape Message #26
November 9, 2007

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The LANDSCAPE MESSAGE is an educational newsletter intended to guide landscape, nursery and urban forestry professionals in identifying pests in the landscape, monitoring their development, planning management strategies and creating site-specific records for future management reference.

UMass Extension has updated this issue to provide timely pest management information and the latest regional news and environmental data throughout Massachusetts. During the months of October through February this newsletter will be updated monthly. The next update will be available on or about December 7, 2007.

Missed a previous message? Visit the Landscape Message Archive.

Interested in additional turf-oriented content? UMass Extension Turf Program Management Updates External link

SCOUTING INFORMATION BY REGION

REGIONAL NOTES -

Cape Cod Region (Barnstable) - General Conditions: Overall, October has been both warmer and dryer than usual. Temperatures reached the low 70° F’s on the 21st and 22nd but dipped into the more normal range of 50° F’s and low 60° F’s by the end of the month. Overnight lows of approximately 31° F occurred on October 29, with the first light frost recorded in Marstons Mills on the morning of October 30. A strong storm system came through the area overnight on October 19, with high winds brings down branches as well as some pitch pines. Precipitation remains below normal and soils are still somewhat dry. Montauk daisies are in bloom and colorful fall foliage brightens the fall landscape. Pests/Problems: Lack of sufficient rainfall continues to be a problem. Irrigate landscape plants, especially broadleaf evergreens, up until the ground freezes to offset winter desiccation. Wasps and hornets continue to be active on warm days. Deer tick adults are out in full force. Be sure to do thorough tick checks frequently.

Southeast Region (Hanson) - General Conditions: Hanson received 3.30 inches of much needed rain over the past four weeks. October weather was warm and wonderful. Scattered blooms of PJM rhododendron, Forsythia, cherry, Callery pear, and Campanula were observed in some areas. Many areas of Plymouth County only received their first frost on October 29, although low areas around cranberry bogs have had killing frosts. In those areas of light frost, annuals like geranium, cannas, impatiens, dahlias and salvia are still in bloom. Fall foliage color finally arrived with much of the color coming from sugar maples, red maples, ginkgo, sassafras, ash, and clethra. Many trees like Norway and Japanese maples, oaks and dogwoods have yet to turn color. Late season perennials still in bloom are: Aconitum sp., (Monkshood), Lamium, Montauk daisy, Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Sheffield Pink Chrysanthemum, Korean Chrysanthemums and Corydalis lutea, as well as some landscape roses. The fruits of autumn olive, staghorn sumac, kousa dogwood, crabapple, hollies, hawthorn, and Viburnum are also providing landscape color. Pests/Problems: The Plymouth County Extension office has received numerous calls regarding the Asian ladybug, Harmonia axyridis, entering buildings. These ladybugs as well as the western conifer seed bugs and boxelder beetles are some of the insects we call 'fall invaders' as they seek places to enter to overwinter. Check frequently for ticks, especially deer ticks. There are no other insects or diseases to report. Now is a good time for fall cleanup especially those areas that had significant plant disease problems like powdery mildew, apple scab, black spot, anthracnose, etc.

East Region (Boston) – Pests/Problems: Cool and fall like. The first frost occurred October 29th.

Metro West (Waltham) – General Conditions: No report available.

Central Region (Boylston) - General Conditions: No report available.

Pioneer Valley Region ( Amherst) - General Conditions: Many leaves fell during the windy, rain received the last couple of weeks of October. However, there is still a fair amount of fall color in the Valley. Lawns remain full and green. Mums and marigolds still bloom in sheltered areas especially near buildings. Otherwise, the hard freezes on the morning of October 29 and 30 killed most garden annuals.

Berkshire Region (Great Barrington) - General Conditions: There was a hard freeze throughout the county on morning of October 29. This was the first widely scattered hard freeze, however, the normally colder regions of county received light frosts on earlier dates. October brought with it much welcomed rain after several months of very dry conditions. Soil moisture levels are now very good. While many trees lost their foliage prematurely in early September due to the prolonged dry period of July, August, and September, most of the trees that remained foliated provided very good, albeit late, fall color. Though past its peak, fall foliage is still quite good in many areas. Pests/Problems: Deer and brown dog ticks have been quite common and complaints have been numerous. No other problems of note though deer browsing in landscapes has been more noticeable of late.

ENVIRONMENTAL DATA -

The following growing-degree-day (GDD) and precipitation data was collected for a two-week period, September 20, 2007 through October 3, 2007. Soil temperature and phenological indicators were observed on or about October 3, 2007. Accumulated GDDs represent the heating units above a 50° F baseline temperature collected via our instruments from the beginning of the current calendar year. This information is intended for use as a guide for monitoring the developmental stages of pests in your location and planning management strategies accordingly.

Region/Location
2007 GROWING DEGREE DAYS
Soil Temp
(°F at 4" depth)
Precipitation
(4-Week Gain)
4-Week Gain
Total accumulation for 2007
Cape Cod
215
2973
55°
2.25"
Southeast
257
3014
52°
3.30"

East
224
3013
49°
1.25"
Metro West
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Central
172
2625
40°
2.82"
Pioneer Valley
223
2843
51°
3.40"
Berkshires
166
2930
49°
5.48"
AVERAGE
216
2900
49°
3.10"
n/a = information not available

CAPE COD REGION - Roberta Clark, Horticulturist for Barnstable County, Barnstable.

SOUTHEAST REGION - Deborah Swanson, Horticulturist for UMass Extension in Plymouth County, Hanson.

EAST REGION - James R. Allen, Horticulturist and Greenhouse Manager for UMass Biology Department, Boston.

METRO WEST REGION – James Martin, Consulting Arborist, reporting from the UMass Extension Center, Waltham.

CENTRAL REGION - Joann Vieira, Superintendent of Horticulture, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston.

PIONEER VALLEY - Dan Gillman, Plant Pathologist, UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab, UMass, Amherst.

BERKSHIRES - Ron Kujawski, Specialist, UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program, Amherst.

WOODY ORNAMENTALS

INSECTS -

No report available this month.

DISEASES -

Dormant season care of deciduous trees and shrubs - As the plants go dormant, it is a good time to remove dead branches, and collect fallen leaves to reduce overwintering inoculum (the resting structures of leaf spot, blight and canker fungi). Remove this debris so fewer of these disease fungi will be present in the area to initiate infections next spring. In addition, if leaf spots and blights are recurring, unsightly problems, resistant varieties, or other plants better adapted to the site may be available to replace them.

Black spot on rose Adobe PDF icon can be ugly and destructive to highly susceptible plants. Black, rounded spots develop on infected leaves and rose hips. Infected first year canes have lesions that are reddish colored initially and then turn black. Black, pinhead-sized fruiting structures develop in the center of the spots and infected leaves turn yellow and drop off prematurely. Remove and dispose of infected leaves and canes. If black spot is severe and replacement is an option, many beautiful, disease resistant varieties are available. 

Tar spot on maple is especially obvious on Norway maple leaves as black, tar-like fruiting structures on the yellowing leaves. Tar spot infections do not threaten the fitness of an otherwise healthy tree. Most of the leaf area remained green throughout the summer so the tree had plenty of leaf area to photosynthesize and produce what it needs to thrive. Reduce the potential for next year’s infections by collecting and disposing of diseased leaves as they fall. This reduces the amount of inoculum available when conditions are cool and moist next spring and the fungus spores can infect young maple leaves. Applications of protective fungicides are unnecessary except to preserve the appearance of high value trees.

Ramorum blight, also known as sudden oak death (SOD) and ramorum dieback: Since 1995, oaks and tanoaks have been dying in the coastal counties of California. Since then, surveys found other plants infected or associated with this disease caused by the water mold, Phytophthora ramorum . Researchers in the U. S. first isolated the pathogen in Mill Valley ( Marin County) on tanoak, but since that time additional surveys confirmed the pathogen on various native hosts in fourteen coastal California counties and in Curry County, Oregon. Through ongoing surveys of nurseries, USDA-APHIS-PPQ continues to define the extent of the pathogen’s distribution in the U. S. and limit its artificial spread beyond infected areas through quarantine and a public education program.

Status of Phytophthora ramorum in 2007:

Federal Regulation, State Inspection, Nursery Survey, and Other Finds. As of October 3, there have been 21 positive nursery finds of Phytophthora ramorum so far this year. The states with these detections include California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania.

The National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS) reported that Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia performed surveys through the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program. None of these states collected positive samples. California, Maine, Oregon, and Washington are performing surveys but they are not under the CAPS program. Oregon reported six positive samples in NAPIS.

Forest Detection Survey. As of November 2, the United States Forest Service (USFS) reported 152 streams baited in 28 states with 953 samples collected. Thirty-five streams tested positive for Phytophthora ramorum during the water baiting survey, one in Washington, one in Mississippi, and 33 in California.

Reported by Dan Gillman, Plant Pathologist, UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab, Amherst

WEEDS -

No report this month.

LANDSCAPE TURF

DISEASES -

No report this month.

INSECTS -

There has been some confusion about a recent posting of mine regarding the role of Milorganite™ and other similar products in managing secondary grub damage. As we all are well aware, sometimes the main problem with grub activity is the birds and four-legged "varmints" that forage in the area and feed on the grubs. As I have said so many times, these animals are excellent biological control agents because they are often very thorough at finding grubs and removing them, but they leave the area in total disarray.

Anyway, I mentioned that my colleague at Ohio State, Dave Shetlar, had reported that the use of Milorganite™ and similar products seemed to encourage skunks and some other animals to move on to other locations to forage. But I had a typographical error in that message that implied it was the grubs that were encouraged to move. So please note the error.

Now that we have finally had a sharp frost in many areas, and the temperatures look to be turning more seasonal, we can expect Japanese beetle grubs to start moving downward in the soil profile fairly soon. The European chafers, of course, are much less sensitive to cold and will continue to feed for a few more weeks in many locations.

Finally, for those of you looking to make inventory decisions for 2008, please note that we have not yet seen any evidence or heard any reports of white grubs developing resistance to imidacloprid (Merit™ and several generic products). This is in spite of the fact that turf managers have been using Merit™ for many years, sometimes treating the same areas year after year. Of course normally we recommend that turf managers avoid using insecticides in the same chemical class year after year, as a major "defense" against resistance. But as we have lost several turf insecticides in the past five years, we have been left with fewer and fewer alternatives and imidacloprid has been the "workhorse" as a preventive application.

So just to recap - imidacloprid is in the neonicotinoid class of insecticides. Two relatively new active ingredients (chlothianidin, sold as Arena™ and thiamethoxam, sold as Meridian™) are also in the same chemical class, so switching to them would not provide any protection against resistance issues.

Both of those "new" products claim activity against a wider range of turf insects, in part because they seem to have translaminar activity in the foliage after application. Note that a new combination product, chlothianidin plus bifenthrin, will be sold as Aloft™ in 2008 and appears to provide very good protection against many of the surface feeding insects, based on field results discussed at a recent workshop.

We still need to refine our understanding of the best time to apply such products. In much of New England, where the European chafer or oriental beetle is the primary grub species, early applications may lose their effectiveness against those species, but we still need to conduct some more field trials before we will have a solid understanding of "how early is too early?" I personally would suggest avoiding applications earlier than early June if grubs are the primary target, but we will be in a better position to understand the limitations after next year's field trials.

Reported by Pat Vittum, Professor & Extension Entomologist, UMass Department of Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences, Amherst, MA

WEEDS -

No report this month.

IMPORTANT INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES

For a complete listing of upcoming events, see our Conferences and Workshops page.

Don't forget to visit the UMass Extension Online Weed Herbarium!

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES

UMass Laboratory Diagnoses Turf and Landscape Problems - Accurate diagnosis for a turf or landscape problem can often eliminate or reduce the need for pesticide use. The UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab is available to serve commercial landscape contractors, turf managers, arborists, nurseries and other green industry professionals. It provides woody plant and turf disease analysis, woody plant and turf insect identification, turfgrass identification, weed identification, and offers a report of pest management strategies that are research based, economically sound and environmentally appropriate for the situation. Send specimens and payment (payable to the University of Massachusetts) to UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab, Holdsworth Natural Resources Center, 160 Holdsworth Way, UMass, Amherst, MA 01003. The fee for a woody plant disease analysis is $50; the fee for turf disease analysis or nematode assay is $75. All insect, weed and turfgrass identification samples are $25 each. For more detailed submission instructions see http://www.umass.edu/agland/diagnostics External link

NEXT UPDATE: The next issue will be available on December 7, 2007

This message is produced by the UMASS Extension, Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program. The copy is prepared by Anna Greene from data and reports provided by the staff and faculty of the UMass Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program and the UMASS Extension Turf Program as well as cooperating horticulturists and Green Industry professionals. The text is adapted for access via the internet by Jason Lanier.

DISCLAIMER. This message is intended for commercial use. UMass Extension assumes no liability for recommendations. It is the responsibility of the applicator to verify the registration status of any pesticide BEFORE applying it. Different states have different regulations as well. The use of trade names (™) does not imply endorsement. Similarly, there may be other products you prefer to use.

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