Turfgrass
§ European chafer grubs are active now
§ Renovating home lawns
§ Common myths about moles in lawns
Christmas trees and forestry
§ Controlling white pine weevil
§ Balsam twig aphids hatch in the spring
§ Gypsy moth spray window
Other news
§ Avian influenza - small poultry flock seminars
§ Weather news
European chafer grubs have been actively feeding on turf
roots the last two weeks. New patches of thin or dead turf have recently
appeared throughout southern
Always check for grubs first before applying an insecticide because lawns can be thin or have dead patches for other reasons as well. If more than 10 grubs per square foot are found, additional damage is likely in the next two weeks.
Homeowners may choose to wait until the grubs are done feeding and then re-seed in early May, or they can treat infested areas of their lawn now with Sevin (carbaryl) or Bayer Advanced Lawn 24 Hour Grub Control (trichlorfon, or Dylox). I suggest waiting one week after applying an insecticide before re-seeding to make sure the grubs don't eat the grass seed or the germinating plants. See the article by Kevin Frank in this Landscape Alert issue for more details on re-seeding, including how long to wait before applying a crabgrass preventer or any herbicide.
The grubs will be done feeding by the middle of May, so there will be no point in using insecticide for spring grubs after May 15. Healthy lawns will grow quickly, filling-in small dead patches an inch or two wide. Lawns with larger dead patches will benefit from re-seeding or over-seeding.
After last summer’s challenging growing conditions, it’s likely that many are looking to reseed some damaged turf areas this spring. Depending on location there are certainly some grub hot spots around and many of these areas will need to be reseeded. The recommendation is to wait about one to two weeks after applying a grub insecticide before reseeding.
It is perfectly safe to apply fertilizer at the time of
seeding. A starter fertilizer is a fertilizer that typically has a nitrogen to
phosphate ratio of 1:1 or 1:1.5. A starter fertilizer application at seeding
will prove beneficial in getting the young seedlings going. Typical application
rates for a starter fertilizer at seeding are 1 lb. N/1000 sq.
If you’re reseeding turf areas, make sure to avoid applying herbicides this spring, i.e., no fertilizer + crabgrass preventer or weed & feed products. Young seedlings don’t tolerate herbicides very well, and the guideline is usually to wait three "real" mowings before applying any herbicides or in some cases at least 60 days. By "real" mowings, I mean you’re actually cutting significant grass, not just running over the area to trim down any weeds.
Probably due to the prolific mole activity this past winter we are receiving many questions about rolling lawns. Generally, we do not recommend that homeowners roll lawns due to the possibility of compacting soils, especially those soils with high clay contents. However, now that we’ve got that disclaimer out of the way, you probably will not do that much damage to your turf or compact the soil by doing a rolling this spring as long as the soil is not too wet. Rolling will help smooth out the mole tunnels, earthworm castings and every other lump and bump that popped up this winter. If you’re using one of the water ballast lightweight rollers, start out with about ¼ of the roller filled and take a pass over the lawn to see if that’s enough weight to smooth out the bumps. If not put a little more water in, following this gradual increase in weight exercise will help ensure that you don’t start out too heavy and compact the soil.
Back in 2004 I became aware of a local chapter of Moles
Anonymous – those individuals often shunned by society due to their mole
problems and their feeble attempts to extradite Mr. Mole from their lawn. Many
homeowners in
Mole Myth 1: I have moles in my yards so that means I have grubs, right?
False. Moles eat lots of stuff and grubs are not the only entrée on their menu. It is not appropriate, or for that matter legal, to apply a grub control insecticide to eliminate moles. First of all it won’t work, second of all the pesticide label is the law and insecticides are not labeled for mole control.
Mole Myth 2: Juicy Fruit, Bubblicious, or Extra Spearmint gum control moles.
I usually tell people if it works for you that’s great, however I have no evidence to support this recommendation. I suppose if nothing else you’d have moles with good breath.
Mole Myth 3: Mole repellants, underground sonic waves, pinwheels in the yard will get rid of my moles.
False. Pinwheels are decorative though.
The only time tested effective method for controlling moles is a good trap. They come in many different styles and will likely require some practice before you snare your first mole. To improve your success make sure to get your scent off the trap. I’ve heard of mole trappers boiling their traps in water to rid the human scent. Handle the trap with some gloves when setting the trap. Make sure to find an active tunnel – this is easier for the eastern mole that produces the surface tunnel than for the star-nosed mole that has a deeper tunnel and makes the volcano in the lawn. Flatten the tunnel one day and then come back the next to see if the tunnel is raised – if raised, it’s an active tunnel.
Finally, there is a relatively new mole bait product on the market called Talpirid. The bait is “disguised” to look just like an earthworm – reminds me of a gummy worm. You place the worm in the tunnel; mole eats it, end of story. I don’t have any personal experience using this product but have heard many stories from the mole battle field that folks are having good results. The “worms” aren’t cheap though so you may need to assess your mole disgust level before starting this eradication program.
Larvae of the white pine weevil kill the terminal leader and the top two to four years of growth on many varieties of spruce, as well as white and Scotch pine trees. If you had weevil damage last year and you need to control the weevils, you will have to do it early this spring.
The adult weevils overwinter on the ground, protected and insulated by the litter (fallen needles). Once they warm up, the weevils move up to the tops of the trees in the late afternoon or early evening and feed on the terminal leader. Each time a female weevil makes a feeding wound on the terminal, she lays one to four eggs in the wound. Those eggs will hatch within a few weeks and the larvae chew their way through the bark. They will feed in the phloem under the bark for several weeks, pupate and then emerge as new adults around midsummer.
If you need to control white pine weevil, your one opportunity is early in the spring. Insecticide should be applied to the terminal leader once it begins to warm up - somewhere around 25-65 GDD50. It's better to be a bit early than to be late with this application. Use a persistent product, because the adult weevils don't all warm up at the same rate. You could have weevil adults feeding on the terminals for three weeks or perhaps longer. If you can avoid spraying the rest of the tree, you will conserve beneficial species like predatory mites.
Growers in
Balsam twig aphid eggs begin to hatch early in spring,
typically around late March to mid-April, depending on temperatures and
location within the state. Hatching is completed in one to two weeks. Studies
in
When spraying is necessary, it is critical to apply
insecticides at the proper time to prevent damage to current-year foliage. The
ideal time to spray is at 100 to 140 GDD50 after the stem mothers have hatched
but before the sexuparae (second generation) aphids are present. Typically at
this point, buds are swelling but have not yet broken, and the stem mothers
have hatched and are exposed at the ends of the shoots. It is very important to
control the stem mothers before they produce the sexuparae. The sexuparae
typically feed inside the expanding bud and are well protected from
insecticides.
Growers (particularly in the southern half of the
Keep in mind, however, that if aphid populations are not very high and you did not have heavy damage last year, you probably don't need to spray.
For more information see bulletin E2813 - Biology and Management of Balsam Twig Aphid. The pdf version can be found on line at the MSU Extension Bulletin office at http://web2.msue.msu.edu/bulletins/mainsearch.cfm and type in the keyword balsam. This is also available at your local Extension office.
Mike Bryan with the Michigan Department of Agriculture reports that we have opened the spray window for Dimilin for nurseries and Christmas trees the past few years around May 5. Weather conditions will certainly impact egg hatch and caterpillar development. So stay tuned as we monitor gypsy moth development around the state this spring, we will announce the opening of the spray window in the Landscape Alert.
As the
The commercial poultry
industry has had an intensive biosecurity plan in place for several years. Our
largest concern is for small flock poultry owners, particularly free-range
poultry where domestic chickens, turkeys and ducks may share common
feeding/living areas with wild birds. In Asia and
These seminars are not meant to address pandemic flu or
deal with general public issues. They are designed specifically to help small flock poultry owners learn more about
the H5N1 virus and how to implement biosecurity practices at their home or
farm. The goal for these educational seminars is to reduce chances that the
small flocks would contract the virus from wild birds.
Cabala's at
Contact Ned Birkey,
Capacity 102. Contact Bay
Wexford MSUE office
Contact Sherry at
231-779-9480.
At the Kinross township
hall, 310 Curtis,
Contact Jim Lucas,
Chippewa MSUE at 906-635-6368.
At the Menominee MSUE office S904 US 41
Stephenson, MI 49887 in Menominee County Contact Mike Erdman, Menominee MSUE at
800-236-1678 or 906-753-2209.
Jet stream flow across North America shifted late last week
to a western troughing, eastern ridging pattern, leaving
In the short term, a cool front over the Upper Midwest region Friday morning (April 14) will move eastward through Michigan during the day Friday, bringing slightly cooler air into the state on westerly winds. Fair and dry weather is expected statewide Saturday, followed by a chance of a few light, scattered showers again across southern sections of the state Easter Sunday. After Friday=s 70+ degree highs across many sections of the state, temperatures will fall back to daytime highs from the 50s north to 60s south Saturday through Tuesday of next week, with low temperatures ranging from the low and mid-30s far north to the 40s in the south.
Further ahead, medium‑range forecast guidance has
lately been inconsistent (large day-to-day differences in the forecast model
output), suggesting a larger scale jet stream pattern change may be possible in
the one to two week time frame. The official NOAA 6-10 day and 8-14 day
outlooks (covering April 19-23 and 21-27) both call for above normal
temperatures and below normal precipitation totals across
During the past couple of months, sea surface temperatures
in the eastern equatorial Pacific region have fallen to slightly cooler than
normal levels, signaling the beginning of what is being termed a weak La Nina
event. Given the limited strength of the event, however, potential associated
weather anomalies across North America will likely be limited to southern
sections of the