Your home outside the city limits.
Dropping soon onto a patio near you – let me introduce the ash sawfly. Or maybe you’ve already been introduced to this insect; your Nebraska Extension office has been getting questions about this little greenish “songbird Snickers bar” all week! Here’s the bottomline, this is ash sawfly and it isn’t going to kill your... Continue Reading →
Correct timing on pest control measures is key to successful management, but that’s difficult when symptoms from the insect or disease attack don’t show up until after the window for control has passed. This week, we’ll look at three common pine tree pest problems which need to be addressed early in the growing season. They... Continue Reading →
After waiting all winter for a new growing season to start, when spring finally does arrive it seems to hit us hard and fast. Then before we know it, spring is gone and we’re in the middle of summer. There are many tasks to accomplish in the spring landscape. To help you develop a plan... Continue Reading →
It will be time to start pruning fruit trees later this month. As pruning begins, it's important to have a good skills at identifying fire blight symptoms and have a multi-pronged approach for control, especially in very susceptible trees. Pruning and sanitation are important control strategies, but improper cleaning of pruning equipment between cuts can... Continue Reading →
t's too early to begin fruit tree pruning now, but it's not too early to prepare. For homeowners with only a few fruit trees - who can choose the ideal time for pruning their trees - it's best to wait until just before new growth begins. This is typically late February into March. Wounds heal... Continue Reading →
Looking through all the beautiful tomato pictures in a seed catalog, how do you choose the best cultivars for your garden? Every gardener knows nothing is more disappointing than to raise a tomato plant, finally have it loaded with fruit, when suddenly it wilts and dies. One way to prevent this disaster is to choose... Continue Reading →
During landscape clean up at season’s end, it’s a good time to assess your plantings’ performance and make plans for next season. If problems occurred, how did they present? Were scattered, unrelated plants affected? Or were all plants in one section of the landscape showing symptoms? How problems present can give a clue as to... Continue Reading →
Whenever woody weeds appear in a landscape, they can be especially challenging to control. Common woody weeds include tree seedlings, buckthorn, multiflora rose, ornamental pear, tartarian honeysuckle, poison ivy vines and greenbrier. Often woody weeds originate from seeds eaten by wildlife and deposited at random. But take heart, fall is a good time to control... Continue Reading →
Japanese beetle season is in full swing! They have been feeding for couple weeks and their damage is becoming very obvious. Below are some common questions about these pesky bugs and tips on managing damage in your landscape. Japanese beetles on rose leaves & flower buds. Image from Pixabay.com. What do they look likeAdult beetles are similar... Continue Reading →
There has been great concern in recent weeks from home gardeners about poison hemlock, also known as poison parsley. Botanically known as Conium maculatum, poison hemlock is blooming right now with large flat clusters of white flowers so can be easily spotted. Poison hemlock is native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It was... Continue Reading →
This spring, some of our lawns look beautiful and others are showing some winter damage. The dry conditions we experienced from September through March have caused patchy grass death in some locations, as in the picture above taken the first week of May 2022 near Hastings. Damage is especially common on south or west facing... Continue Reading →
Warm temperatures in March have had many homeowners wondering about this year’s first spring preemergence (PRE) herbicide application. When is the right time to apply in spring? If you've waited, that's good. PRE Herbicide Residual PRE herbicides act by killing newly germinated weed seedlings; they come in contact with the herbicide as they grow their... Continue Reading →
Acreage Life - Nebraska 