Pest Management & Plant Health

The UC IPM Urban & Community Program hosts monthly webinars that are free and open to the public. Join us every third Thursday from 12pm-1pm for helpful pest related information. All webinars are recorded and posted on the UC IPM YouTube channel soon after.

Knowing what weedy grass you have in your lawn or landscape is very important in being able to properly control it. Dallisgrass is a common perennial weed that is easily identified and grows in uneven clumps in lawns and turf.

Many people think wild rabbits hopping around are adorablethere's even an international rabbit day celebrating wild and domestic rabbitsbut they're less welcome when they're eating your carefully tended garden. Wild rabbits in California can devour your garden vegetables, just like Peter Cottontail.

If you've been following the statewide news on the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes ageypti, you'll want to hear a seminar by Olivia Winokur on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Abiotic plant disorders are generally caused by environmental conditions, rather than microorganisms. They are sometimes called noninfectious diseases. Abiotic disorders can develop if a plant's needs are not being met.

Throughout history bats have been objects of fear, hostility, and myths, largely due to their nocturnal, mysterious behavior. Horror movies and media exaggerations has led people to believe they are dangerous disease-ridden blood suckers. The truth is very different.

UC Davis doctoral candidate and vector-borne disease specialist Olivia Winokur, who studies with major professor Chris Barker, will present her exit seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 5 in 122 Briggs Hall.

The invasive pest spotlight focuses on emerging or potential invasive pests in California. In this issue we are covering the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). Brown marmorated stink bug facts BMSB can cause severe crop and garden losses and become a nuisance in and around homes and other buildings.

With ongoing drought and local water restrictions in place in many areas of California, you may start to see landscape plants suffering from stress caused by a lack of water, calledwater stress. Water-stressed plants can have symptoms that resemble diseases caused by plant pathogens.

One of my neighbors in West Bishop noticed a pretty, white-flowered plant that had volunteered on the banks of a ditch that ran through the end of her garden.