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| Landscape Alert newsletter | ||||
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| Vol. 22, No. 10, June 15, 2007 |
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In this issue |
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Armyworm flight into Michigan causes gull problem at Comerica Park A big storm front from June 8-10 brought in a load of armyworm moths into Michigan. Many locations along Lake Michigan, especially places with bright lights on at night, reported an abundance of light brown moths for several days after the storm. But nobody noticed them more than the fans at Comerica Park during two night games, including the game that Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter. The problem came from the gulls more than the moths. What happened is that the bright lights at Comerica Park acted as a giant light trap, attracting moths from miles away. After fluttering around the lights, some of the moths settled into the stadium. Moths are a tasty treat for gulls, and they couldn’t resist such a banquet. Hundreds of gulls came to the stadium where the easiest picking seemed to be off the baseball turf. |
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| Kevin Newhouse, an entomologist and technician working in my lab visited Heather Nabozny, head groundskeeper for the Detroit Tigers, to discuss the problem on Monday, June 11. Kevin collected some of the moths and identified them as the armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta. Overwintering armyworms complete their spring development in mid-to-southern Indiana, Illinois and other parts of the Midwest at a similar latitude, in late May, pupate and emerge as adult moths in early-to-mid June. (view photo) Large numbers of these and other related moth species can move large distances with storm fronts. The moths rest during the day and fly at night, and they are very attracted to bright lights. The rest of the story is history now. The gulls were dancing all over Comerica Park snatching up moths during two Tiger night games. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Be patient with honeylocust trees I know the honeylocust trees look real bad right now from honeylocust plant bug (see June 8, 2007 Landscape CAT Alert issue), but these scruffy-looking trees will recover quickly after the plant bugs disappear during the next two weeks. Heavily defoliated trees will benefit from some watering during dry weather, to help them grow new leaves. There is no point in spraying after the plant bugs are gone. |
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| Watch for signs of drought stress The “dog days”of summer have come early to mid-Michigan this year. As warm and dry conditions continue, it’s important to keep an eye on trees and shrubs in the landscape and look for signs of stress. This is especially critical for plants that have recently (within the past year) been planted. Homeowners and landscapers should plan to water newly established trees and shrubs once a week in the absence of rainfall. In addition to recently established plants, trees and shrubs in high-stress areas, such as parking lot planters, may become water stressed as temperatures soar. Common signs of drought stress include:
Leaf curling or drooping leaders will first be evident around mid-day when the leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit is highest. Trees may recover during the overnight hours in the early stages of drought, but as soil moisture continues to decline, they may start the day in a low water status. This is the point where growth will be severely impacted and depending on the species, the tree may begin to drop leaves. Watering tips
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| How effective is your irrigation system?- Field day on June 27 Learn how to check your irrigation system with MSU Extension educators. An irrigation system field day will be offered Wednesday, June 27. This event will be held at three different locations and times for your convenience. Bosch’s Countryview nursery at 10:00 AM, Woodland Enterprises Blueberry Farm at 1:00 PM and Victory Farms at 3:30 PM. Please view attached flyer or PDF for exact locations. The event will cost $5.00, and the registration deadline is Monday, June 25. You may pay at workshop. Please contact MSU Extension-Otttawa County for more information at 616-846-8250. Dr. Tom Fernandez, Department of Horticulture, will be demonstrating the techniques you can use to do your own system checks. |
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| Shade tree weed control in-field discussion Dr. Mike Marshall, Department of Horticulture, MSU, weed science specialist and I will review MSU test plots showing eight different pre-emergent herbicides combinations for field-grown shade trees. Also, I will be sharing an update on shade tree nursery disease and insect problems. Please join us for the discussion. What: Shade Tree Weed Control Discussion When: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 – 3:00 PM Where: Maple Lake Tree Farm – 5140 Chicago Dr., Hudsonville, Michigan (West on Chicago Drive, a quarter mile past 48th Avenue, north side of the road. Look for the sign!) |
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| Turf Management Strategies for Residential Lawns workshop Are you tired of your lawn looking tired? Plan on attending our Turf Management Strategies for Residential Lawns workshop and learn the tricks of the trade for obtaining and maintaining a healthy lawn. This seminar is being held at the MSU Extension office located at 4215 W. Pasadena in Flint on June 28 from 6:00-8:00 PM. Click on turf management to receive your registration form. For more information, contact the Shiawassee Conservation District at 989- 723-8263 ext 3. |
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| Christmas tree pest update With the recent hot and dry weather, we have begun to see the first signs of water stress showing up on Fraser fir, especially on sandy soils. Look for wilting on the current year’s growth. If you have access to irrigation, you need to replace soil moisture in the root zone. This is particularly important for young trees. (view photo 1) Pine chafer (Anomela beetle) Pine chafer is active in Scotch pine fields. The female beetle is tawny or buff, and the male is brown with a greenish-bronze head. Adult pine chafers damage the new needles by chewing through needle sheaths. Needles will appear bent or broken and either be green or brown. Treat the plantation if 5 percent of the needles on the trees within three years of harvest are broken or discolored. On younger trees, treat if 20 percent of their needles are injured. Rose chafer We have reports from some growers of large numbers of rose chafer in Christmas tree fields. Typically, we don’t see much damage, but I saw a field of white pine with damage to the new growth that I believe was caused by rose chafer feeding.(view photo 2.) Sphaeropsis (Diplodia) tip blight This fungus, Sphaeropsis sapinea, (use to be known as Diplodia), will kill current season growth on trees and seedlings. Growers will now find on their Scotch pine stunted or curled current-year shoots. The infected tissue will be resin-soaked. This fungus infects growing and elongating shoots in the spring and kills the main terminal of the seedlings. The black fruiting bodies can be seen with a hand lens and even the naked eye. These black dots will be on the needles, usually under the sheath and on the stems. Even though you see the symptoms now, the fungicide needed to be applied earlier in the spring during shoot elongation. Spittlebug Spittlebug nymphs and adults suck sap from shoots. Unless their numbers are abundant, they seldom do more than flag an occasional branch tip. However, the Sphaeropsis fungus may invade weakened pines through spittlebug feeding wounds. A few scattered spittlemasses need no treatment. If the trees are covered with white froth, you find tree branches flagged or if you find Sphaeropsis shoot blight present, treat the plantation. Apply a registered insecticide in early to mid-July to control adults. To determine the spray date, start examining the spittlemasses in early July and spray when 95 percent of them are empty. (view photo 3) White pine weevil Growers may start seeing damage from white pine weevil now. Tops of spruce, scotch and white pine will start showing the characteristic drooping or curled terminals. If you look closer, you will see small, white larvae under the bark or in the wood of the damaged terminal. This is a good time to prune out and destroy infested leaders. Make sure to remove them from the field. Then select a new lateral shoot on the upper whorl to become the new leader. Trim the rest of the shoots back to one-half of their original length. Spider mites We continue to find pockets of spruce spider mites active in Fraser fir. Spruce spider mites feed on the needles causing chlorotic spots. From a distance, the tree will look dusty to bronze on the interior. When you have heavy damage, these needles eventually will turn brown and drop from the tree. If you look at the damaged area with a hand lens, you will find frass, dirt, cast skins and webbing. You may also find small green or red to almost black mites. Periodic sampling by tapping foliage over white paper can help you reveal the presence of mites. Be sure to tap several branches on all sides of the tree and sample multiples trees throughout the block. We have seen a new problem in some Fraser and balsam fir. The new growth is damaged about a half inch from the stem, and the growth is drooping or curled. This could be caused by frost damage. We have sent a sample to Diagnostic Services for identification. Hopefully, we will have an answer by next week’s Alert. (view photo 4) |
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| Gypsy moth spray window dates This year’s gypsy moth larval activities are coming to a close as warm weather pushes gypsy moth development across the state. Growers should pay close attention to degree day accumulations and larval development in their area. The chart below shows actual and projected open/close dates for application of the two groups of pesticides used for regulatory treatment of gypsy moth in nursery stock and Christmas trees. It is anticipated that final announcements on the remaining zones’ closing dates will be made in next week’s Landscape CAT Alert.
** Projections - based on 30 year historical degree day data unless otherwise noted. |
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| Boxwood beware! The diagnostic lab has received several samples of boxwood this spring. These boxwood were growing along the edge of walkways and sidewalks in residential areas. The bushes reportedly looked great last fall, but this spring the bushes had extensive blighting and in some cases were dead. (view photo) Needless to say the homeowners were extremely upset and were quick to find someone to blame for the damage. In this case, the blame was passed to the companies that had been hired to keep the sidewalks clear from snow and ice throughout the winter, salt damage was the suspected cause of the decline. As diagnosticians, we were contacted to determine what caused the damage. We begin by looking at symptoms on the bushes submitted, reviewing pictures of the site provided by the client and testing the soluble salts level of the soil submitted. A soluble salt testing provides a quantified level of soil salinity. The higher the value the more saline in the soil. Soluble salts levels of the soil taken from these boxwood samples were as high as 1.3 mS/cm or 910 ppm (measured with a 1:2 dilution). The values in these soil samples were taken several months after the last salt application would have been applied, and the salt levels had been reduced by leaching. Salt is leached from soil with rain and irrigation water. There is no way to determine what the salt levels in this soil were earlier in the season. Measuring the salt content is the easy part, interpreting the values is more complicated. The thresholds for tolerance and plant damage varies depending on the soil type, moisture content of the soil and the type of plant being grown in the soil. Salt sensitive crops are expected to have damage in field soil with a level of 1.00 or higher. Most crops are expected to have severe injury in dry soil where soluble salts levels are 1.5 or higher (Warncke, 2000). Depending on the references you consult, boxwood is classified as sensitive to moderately sensitive to salt damage. Boxwood plantings along sidewalks can readily become a maintenance issue. Landscape designers should consider the salt sensitivity of plants placed next to sidewalks or other areas where salt is likely to be used. Many landscapers and lawn maintenance companies operate snow removal services during the winter. These professionals should be aware of the pitfalls associated with using deicing salts near boxwood and other salt-sensitive plants. Additionally, homeowners need to balance the need for safety by deicing the sidewalk with the potential damage salt exposure causes to adjacent plantings. |
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| Proper pruning of Austrian pine First off, I must begin with a warning. If you are a lover of Austrian pine, then you may find the following offensive. If you are a lover of Austrian pine and are inclined to write nasty letters to those who disparage this common landscape conifer, then please skip to another article. This story is about two Austrian pine trees that have graced my property for the past twenty years. They didn’t look that good twenty years ago and have not improved in their appearance until this past week, when my neighbor, Joe and his crew showed up to do a little corrective pruning. The type of pruning employed by Joe is commonly referred to in the lab as “basal pruning.” Austrian pine samples are among those that are most frequently submitted to the lab. This, in and of itself, is probably not a good thing for any woody ornamental. Declining Austrian pine samples invariably show either Sphaeropsis (aka Diplodia tip blight) or Dothistroma needle blight. Both are quite capable of killing the tree. As a result, Austrian pines tend to be short-lived, which in my opinion is a blessing. The accompanying photographs tell the rest of this story. Any further words on my part will only detract from the photographs. (view photos) |
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| Bizarre, yet interesting, flies swarming in Chelsea A family from Chelsea sent in some very nice flies that were swarming twelve inches off the ground in their yard. The kids even sent in drawings with the specimens. These flies are some bizarre, poorly known species of a family of flies known as dance flies (family Empididae). Empidids are predaceous flies that are known to eat mosquitoes, black flies and other empidids. Male empidids often offer captured prey to females as so-called nuptial gifts as part of their courtship and mating rituals. Gift-giving during courtship and mating occurs across the animal kingdom, including in humans. Gift-giving is of clear benefit to females when gifts are nutritious and thus valuable. Enough about this, for I have been warned in the past that CAT Alert articles are to be “G” rated. See the accompanying photos for a closer look at these very bizarre flies. |
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| Programs for green industries and gardeners Pesticide Applicator Training for the Green Industries. Come and join us for an early evening (6:00-8:00 PM) diagnostic tour of the beautiful Applewood Estate in Flint on July 12 and receive Michigan Department of Agriculture recertification credits. Click on Landscape & Turf Diagnostics Tour for more information and registration form, or call 810-244-8512. Genesee County Annual Master Gardener Garden Tour will take place on June 24, from 10:00-6:00 PM. For a complete listing of sites and other pertinent information, click on garden tour. Tickets are available in advance as well as on the day of the tour at the MSUE office. For more information, call 810-244-8547. |
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| Michigan registration for new agricultural water withdrawals New wells and surface water withdrawals in Michigan installed February, 2006 that are capable of pumping 100,000 gallon per day (70 gpm) are now required to register with Michigan Department of Agriculture prior to beginning to pump. All water withdrawals that reported prior to 2006 are considered properly registered. Forms are available directly from the MDA website at: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mda/MDA_NewLQW_RegistrationForm_181528_7.pdf or from St. Joseph County MSU Extension at http://www.msue.msu.edu/stjoseph then navigate to the link for irrigation on the left side. The latitude and longitude coordinates for the location are required for all new large scale withdrawal location. This information may be provided by handheld GPS units or the groundwater mapping website (http://gwmap.rsgis.msu.edu). Many MSU Extension offices or your local Conservation District office can assist with the use of finding the latitude and longitude coordinates. Providing the latitude/longitude location of withdrawals will allow mapping and analysis of effects of withdrawals on groundwater and stream base flow in the watershed basin. Information at the St. Joseph County MSU Extension website (http://www.msue.msu.edu/stjoseph) can assist in estimating water use for irrigation and other agricultural water uses. Lyndon Kelley, irrigation management educator for MSU Extension can answer many of the questions related to Michigan’s new water use process. He can be reached by phone at 269-467-5511 or e-mail kelleyl@msu.edu. An estimate of expected water use by the month is needed. Most irrigators will estimate their water use from experience multiplied by the number of acres irrigated. As an example: 100 acres with 1.5 inches of irrigation applied in June would have an estimated water use of 150 acre inches for the month. Three inches of estimated irrigation needed in both July and August and 1 inch in September, would give an estimated annual water use of 550 acre inches for the year. The registration process also calls for an estimate of consumptive water use. Consumptive water use is the amount of water that is lost from the area of withdrawal. Since most water pumped for crop irrigation ultimately goes into evapotransporation, the consumptive use is estimated to be high or about 90 percent. Water used for harvest cooling is mostly retuned back to the surface or groundwater so the consumptive use is estimated to be low or about 5 to 10 percent. Baseline capacity (rated capacity) The registration process establishes a “baseline capacity” based on the available withdrawal capacity of a system. The baseline capacity of the system should be reported as pump capacity in gal/min along with a pump and system description, which is compatible with the well log. Baseline capacity applies to both wells and surface water withdrawals. Please note: You should report this baseline capacity value on the registration form on the line listed as “rated capacity.” For further information, water resource specialist, Abigail Eaton of the Michigan Department of Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Division heads up the registration process for large water withdrawals. She can be contacted at 517-241-3933 or eatona@michigan.gov. |
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| Weather news The upper air ridge and associated surface high pressure that has brought almost a week of warm and dry “California-like” weather to the Great Lakes region, is expected to slowly move east of the region during the weekend. A weak cool front will move into Michigan from the north on Saturday, June 16, but given very limited moisture ahead of it, only a few scattered showers and thundershowers are expected (mainly in northern sections of the state). Rainfall totals will generally be in the 0.10-0.25 inch category where rain falls. There will be the lingering chance for showers and thunderstorms across northern sections of the state Sunday and Monday, while southern sections will likely remain dry. Temperatures through Monday will remain at above normal levels, with highs ranging from the upper 70's in northern lakeshore areas to the upper 80's to near 90ºF south and lows falling into the mid 50's north to mid 60's south. An upper air trough and associated cool front are expected to move into the region by the middle of next week, which will likely be the next chance for significant/widespread precipitation. Time-wise, this weather feature should bring the chance for showers and thunderstorms in western sections of the state by Monday evening and across the east on Tuesday. Following the movement of the troughing feature through the region next week, current medium range forecast guidance for the 6-10 day and 8-14 day time frames covering June 20-24 and 22-28, suggests that the troughing pattern mentioned above will transition to the more west to east zonal pattern by the latter part of next week, resulting in more unsettled weather pattern. Normal to above normal precipitation totals are forecast for both time frames. Temperatures during the 6‑10 day period are forecast to range from near normal levels across the Lower Peninsula to above normal levels over the Upper Peninsula. During the 8-14 day period, temperatures are forecast to range from near normal in southeastern sections of the state to above normal in the northwest. |
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