Pest Management & Plant Health

I read an interesting paper* recently about the sale and spread of invasive ornamental plants in the U.S. The paper describes the results of a study that examined whether identifying a plant species as invasive influenced its availability for purchase from the plant trade industry.

Tong Zhen is a Ph.D. student in the Hanson Lab at UC Davis. Non-chemical weed control usually is based on physical methods (e.g. tillage or mowing) or thermal methods such as propane flaming or steam.

The University of California, Irvine campus is home to a vast urban forest consisting of approximately 30,000 trees located in a mix of landscape, riparian and open space settings.

A new, $5.25 million greenhouse is being built on the University of California, Davis, campus to safeguard an important grapevine collection from red blotch disease and other pathogens.

Humans love anything new and different, and that includes plants for their garden. In the past, when bringing plants into California from other places, people had no idea this could cause environmental problems.

What is your favorite condiment for a Memorial Day brat? My childhood friend, with family roots in Wisconsin, told me there is only one choice.... mustard! And mustard flowers certainly have painted the landscape the intermountain region this year.

The bee and the butterfly. Or, Apis mellifera and Colias eurytheme. One's a beneficial insect. That would "bee" the honey bee. The other is a yellow and white butterfly, striking in appearance, but in its larval stage, it's a major pest of alfalfa.

They marveled at the tadpole shrimp. They crafted tadpole shrimp-themed hats and puppets using paper plates and googly eyes. And they asked questions. Lots of questions.

From Page 13 of the Western Farm Press (May 2022) magazine By Lee Allen (Contributing writer) Sometimes it takes a long time for an idea to be embraced by the public. Take electric weed control, a concept first patented in 1890, yet it hadn't received much attention until a few decades ago.

Melody Kendall Pesticide use has become quite the controversy of late. I have used products in the past that now make me cringe when I think about how blithely I spread such toxic compounds in my garden.