Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard

Question: Every year my great hollyhocks are practically destroyed by RUST. They enjoy full sun and super air circulation.  I trim, sanitize my tools constantly and use fungicides to no avail. Wondering if you have any advice? I am thinking of digging and destroying them as it’s way too time consuming at this point. Answer: […]

Question: I have experienced an invasion of grasshoppers that have devastated my flower gardens for the last two years. I’ve read NOLO bait is a good product to kill grasshopper eggs but this will not be available to purchase. Can you offer a recommendation? I would also like advice to deal with Japanese beetles. Answer: […]

Question: How do you get rid of voles and moles in the garden? Online, I have seen that many of the usual methods, scent, and castor oil really don’t work. Can you suggest an effective method? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Special Project Assistant Voles and moles can be quite a headache for gardeners and homeowners. I […]

Question: I have a small greenhouse and had spider mites on my tomatoes and peppers last year, both in individual pots and in the permanent bed. Should I empty the soil from the pots and bed, assuring that there will be no spider mites this year or will they not winter over?  Answer: Jonathan Foster, […]

Question: I have a large 15 x15 foot cranberry bush viburnum that is heavily infested with viburnum leaf beetle. I am going to cut it down before spring but want to know how I should dispose of it so that the beetles do not spread. I do not think that it would be wise to […]

Question: My river birch is dropping deep segments of bark from the ground up to about three feet. It is not the normal sloughing off of the outer layer. What is coming off leaves bare wood underneath. Could this be a vole or a disease? I sprayed the base of tree with a hot pepper […]

Question: I have raised beds. The last two years my tomato plants, started from seed, have developed what we think is septorium (the fungus. It could be blight, I guess) starting from the lowest leaves and moving up the plant till all the plants are decimated. I have tried using different beds, digging out the […]