Pest Management & Plant Health

If you have peach or nectarine trees, winter is the time to spray them to prevent peach leaf curl. Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease that attacks peaches and nectarines. It appears in spring, causing new leaves to become reddish, puckered and severely distorted. This disease is caused by the fungus…

California is famous for its scenic wilderness and biological diversity. Unfortunately, our state’s unique ecosystems are in danger, and invasive species are among the biggest threats to our environment. Invasive species can cause all kinds of environmental damage, such as harming wildlife, disrupting our…

Botryosphaeria canker, sometimes called Bot canker, is a common fungal disease that can affect many tree species including ash, eucalyptus, fig, maple, pistachio, and walnut. Plants infected with this disease typically develop cankers (dark sunken lesions in the bark) and can lose branches. The whole…

It’s almost Halloween, so many of us are thinking about jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and mummies. When you think of a mummy, you probably imagine the scary kind inspired by the ancient Egyptian ritual of preserving the bodies of the dead. When we talk about mummies at UC IPM, we mean something completely…

Have you noticed groups of black bugs with colorful markings hanging out on the sidewalk or your porch? Maybe you’ve seen them on fruit trees or in your veggie garden. It can seem like they’re everywhere, but what are they? Where you find them can give you a clue about what they are and how to handle…

How to identify the pests that are damaging your lawn What is wrecking your lawn? It could be skunks, raccoons, moles, voles, pocket gophers, or lawn insects. Each leave behind evidence and signs of their presence.Skunks are out at dusk, during the night, and at dawn in residential areas searching for…

Crabgrass popping up in your lawn or landscape can be aggravating, but don't despair -- you can manage this common annual weed with integrated pest management!  First, make sure that you are dealing with crabgrass and not a lookalike grass like dallisgrass or bermudagrass. The newly revised Pest Notes:…