Question: Something is eating the apple trees. They have bloomed, but the leaves are being attacked. Can you help determine what is eating them/how to get them to stop? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional There are numerous pests that can chew on apple leaves, and without other identifying clues it’s tough to say. […]
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Question: I have an old farm with 200-year-old apple trees and some have been infected with fire blight. I am planting some new apple trees and want to know how to plant them so the fire blight doesn’t infect the new ones. Is there a distance recommendation or specifics about how the disease is spread […]
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Question: Late frost last year meant zip peaches. This year could be a huge crop. After thinning the tiny fruit, how do we physically support the still heavily laden branches? I can easily envision tripod supports for near horizontal branches, but what to do for the not-so-horizontal branches? I’m thinking the trees will look like […]
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Question: Is it safe to use rainwater harvested from an asphalt shingled roof to water my raspberry garden? I am not so much concerned about the bacteria, but wondering about the chemicals from the shingles. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional The short answer is that it’s complicated and different credible sources I found […]
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Question: I have a 23-year-old crabapple tree. This past summer and fall the leaves were spotted with black and brown. It only produced small shriveled black fruit. Is there a disease I should be treating for? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional Last year was a challenge for all kinds of fruit-bearing trees in […]
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Question: I recently discovered this growth/cocoon on a young beach plum. It is only about 5/8″ long and at first assumed it to be some kind of cocoon given the perfectly round opening, only it appears to the be the same woody material as growing on the beach plum (or perhaps very well camouflaged). Any […]
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Question: For three years something has been causing the leaves on my ape trees to turn brown and fall off. This begins about the first of August. By late September some of the trees are leafless. It starts on the lower branches and works its way up. It also affects plum and pear trees. Would […]
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Question: I grow Juliet tomatoes each year primarily for fresh eating and freezing for sauce. This year I planted late due to weather. Of interest, I use no chemicals/sprays etc, only addition is bone meal. My question is…what is causing black spots and are they safe to freeze/ process? Should I treat the soil in […]
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Question: I have five blueberries that I planted last year and this year. The leaves are red/yellow and falling off. They have been like this since early summer. Any thoughts? Do I need to make the soil more acidic? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant As you know, blueberries are deciduous plants (meaning they shed […]
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Question: We just acquired property with three old apple trees that have not been taken care of in years. We are looking for someone to come help us prune the trees and teach us how to care for them. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Projects Assistant While the Cooperative Extension does not have the resources to […]
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