Top navigation

Pest Management

Brad Herrick of the University of Wisconsin 

Emotions Matter: Even when Dealing With Jumping Worms

By Angela Gupta

In October 2018, I found jumping worms in my vegetable garden two days after attending a professional conference and participating in a whole afternoon dedicated to jumping worms. It was saddening and disheartening, a bit hopeless. A few weeks before, I learned that jumping worms were found at my local municipal yard waste site, where I’d gotten cheap, local compost for years.

Continue Reading
Adult spotted lanternfly with wings spread open. ( Photo Courtesy of Gregory Hoover.)
 

The Spotted Lanternfly Has Arrived in Massachusetts

By Tawny Simisky

The MA Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) announced on September 28, 2021, that a small, established, and breeding population of the invasive spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) was detected in Worcester County, MA, in the city of Fitchburg. Residents and professionals living and working across the Commonwealth should learn the life stages of the spotted lanternfly and be able to identify their eggs, immatures, and adults.

Continue Reading
Spotted_Lanternflies_Red_Maple_2019-10-17 

Spotted Lanternfly: Invasive Insect Report

By Joshua Bruckner

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula, “SLF”) is an emerging invasive insect of concern in New England. Spotted lanternfly(SLF) was first detected in Pennsylvania in September 2014. It feeds on a wide range of fruit, ornamental and woody trees, with tree-of-heaven being one of the preferred hosts. It can spread long distances by people moving infested material or items containing egg masses. We must stop this pest could before it seriously impacts the country’s grape, orchard, and logging industries.

Continue Reading
Callirhoe involucrata, known commonly as Wine Cups, is an excellent and very durable ground cover.
 

Nature’s Sanctuary

By Gregg Tepper

West Laurel Hill Cemetery, a level-II accredited arboretum located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, features a unique space called “Nature’s Sanctuary.” This one-acre space, which previously served as the cemetery’s dumpsite, now uses a managed successional plan that will gradually transition from a sunny meadow to a meadow/woodland combination and, finally, a mature forest. This article focuses on the range of native plant species grown in this one-acre space and doing so with deer pressure.

Continue Reading
Lady beetle enjoying aphids for lunch. 

When Trouble Follows You Indoors

By Nadia Ruffin

Winter is here and we have all moved our plants indoors. Everything is fine—for a few weeks. Then you notice a few leaves falling off your plants. You don’t think anything of it at first, but then your vibrant plants start to go downhill fast. After a careful inspection, you discover your plants are infested with insects.  Learn the most common house plant pests and how to manage them. 

Continue Reading
Figure 8. Dodder, when left uncontrolled, tends to spread farther and farther outward, smothering host plants. When this occurs, host plants are further weakened by multiple vines with penetrating haustoria and an increase in shade caused by dense vine growth. Source: www.gardeningknowhow.com

  

Dodder, a Parasitic Vine Weed

By Bruce Wenning

Not all plant diseases are caused by parasitic microbes, some are caused by parasitic weeds.  The dodder vine is one of those weeds.  Dodder attaches itself to healthy plants and makes them more vulnerable to other diseases and insect pests. Find out all about the dodder lifecycle and best practices for ridding your landscape of this fascinating but noxious vine.

Continue Reading
As any gardener will know, keeping flowers looking beautiful can take some effort. Learning how to identify and understand the natural history of pests is an important step in managing them without chemicals. (Photo: Eric Lee-Mäder.)
 

How to Identify and Respond to Pests at Home

By Emily May

One of the most fulfilling aspects of spending most of my time at home over the past few months has been watching the flowers in my yard blossom and buzz with bees, flies, butterflies, hummingbirds, and more. I also notice when things go awry, like when I spotted deformed flower heads on my bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) and later on my purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). What was going on and what could I do about it without the use of harmful pesticides which pose risk to both humans and insects alike. 

Continue Reading
Xylocopa_Latreille carpenter-bee one of the largest native bees in the United States 

Carpenter Bees at Work in Home and Garden

By Karen Boussolini 

Bees are smart. They recognize high-quality food and habitat. The buzz has gone out that my house is a happening place for carpenter bees. In a quest to rid my house of carpenter bees, understand their life cycle, and find alternatives that don’t involve them eating my house I discovered some simple steps to save both my house and these gentle beneficial insects. 

 

Continue Reading