If you've already encountered a few or a group of spotted lanternflies in your yard, you may need to take extra steps to protect your yard since this invasive pest can damage the ecosystem around them.
12.06.2024 - 17:25 / theprovince.com / Helen Chesnut
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Q. My trees bore many damaged apples last year. What insect pest(s) are most likely involved and how can I prevent a repeat of the damage?
A. Two main pests that target apples are coddling moth and apple maggot. You can tell which one you are dealing with by the nature of the damage.
Coddling moths emerge soon after apple blossom time to lay eggs on and near developing fruit. The eggs hatch into larvae that bore into the core of the small apples to feed there for around a month before crawling out to pupate and produce a second generation of egg-laying adults in July and August.
Apple maggot flies begin to emerge in early summer. The females pierce the fruit to lay eggs in July, August and September. The eggs hatch into larvae that make a maze of thin tunnels as they feed on the flesh.
One tunnel in and out of an apple core signifies coddling moth. Whole sections of browned flesh indicate apple maggot.
Monitoring the trees carefully and removing fallen and suspect fruit is useful. Keeping trees compact with summer pruning makes monitoring manageable. Monitoring for coddling moth involves watching from the time the apples are marble size for entry holes. Remove and destroy suspect and fallen apples.
Larvae can be trapped as they move down the tree trunk to pupate. In early June, wrap a 20-cm wide band of corrugated cardboard around the trunk. Some of the larvae will stop to spin cocoons in the bands. Check every 10 days for cocoons and larvae to pick out. Replace with fresh bands in mid-July.
As with coddling moth, monitoring for and physical removal
If you've already encountered a few or a group of spotted lanternflies in your yard, you may need to take extra steps to protect your yard since this invasive pest can damage the ecosystem around them.
SOME OF THE many unusual fruits that Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano grow in their arboretum in the Hudson Valley of New York, like goji berries or maybe Schisandra (above), are ones you’re more likely to see on ingredient labels of health food store products than for sale in nurseries or growing in gardens. But grow them you can.
Image: Hampton Court Flower Festival. Credit: RHS
Happy Friday GPODers!
Want your backyard to be a personalized fruit market? Then, prune your favorite established fruit plant, gather its cuttings, and start multiplying.
This year Chelsea Flower Show was full of interesting trees and shrubs with lots of dreamy woodland-edge planting in dappled light underneath leafy canopies. Native trees such as hawthorns, hazels and silver birch were the favoured choices in many of the show gardens, with a mixture of native and non-native ornamental plants selected for resilience and sustainability. In Ula Maria’s Forest Bathing Garden, white foxgloves, cow parsley and other umbellifers like Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis) were mixed with the simple shade-loving grass Melica altissima ‘Alba’ while Tom Stuart-Smith showcased intricate tapestries of interesting foliage in different shapes and textures. In other gardens, orange was a popular colour in many shades, from deep rusty orange irises to pale orange geums, especially in Ann Marie-Powell’s exuberant Octavia Hill Garden. As always, the Grand Pavilion is the ideal place to discover new and interesting plants showcased by some of the country’s leading nurseries.
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Planning some house parties this summer? As you compile your guest list, give some thought to those who will not be welcome—notably mosquitos, ants, wasps, and other nasty pests.
Powdery mildew is among the most widespread plant diseases and is easily recognized by its white growth that covers foliage like a dusting of flour. This group of fungal pathogens affects hundreds of plants, from important food crops to trees, shrubs, and flowers. Even some turf grasses are susceptible to powdery mildew. Gardeners find infected plants unsightly, and severe infections can cause foliage to turn yellow and drop prematurely. Heavily infected plants experience reduced growth, flower production, and fruiting, which is particularly problematic for food crops.
Looking at your latest bountiful harvest, you may realize that you need to learn how to freeze broccoli. This is a great problem to have! When your garden efforts pay off with a bumper crop, you can preserve your vegetables to enjoy year-round. There are several steps required to freeze broccoli, but it’s pretty easy. All you need is a good knife and cutting board, along with a large pot and a large bowl. In this article, you’ll read tips for harvesting broccoli, all you need to know to prep broccoli, and finally, how to freeze broccoli that you grew yourself. Why freeze broccoli from the garden Eating “local”—meaning from the garden—is an aspiration for many of us. While season-extensio
How to Identify and Control 15 Persimmon Pests
On a trip through Germany in 1971, I took a train from Frankfurt to Munich. The train was half-empty, and I looked around for a while before finding a friendly face. He was a factory worker in Germany but was originally from Italy. I don’t think we had talked more than three minutes before we were on the subject of food. He asked me if I had tasted pasta with broccoletti di rape. I assured him that I had, and he clasped his hands, rolled his eyes, and exclaimed in his beautiful dialect, “It’s so good it hurts!” What he called broccoletti di rape, or rape (pronounced rah-PAY) for short, is better known in this country as broccoli rabe. However you pronounce it or spell it, this marvelous cool-weather vegetable is a joy to grow and to cook with. Learn how to grow your own broccoli rabe from seed, and take advantage of this versatile green.