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Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard

Managing Insect, Diseases, and Animal Pests

What is the white growth found in the seedling soil and is it safe to plant in my garden?

Question: I am a new gardener. I started all my garden plants indoors this year, from seed (about 3-400) and recently, a silvery white fungus or mold is appearing on the soil and spreading to the soil of all my starts. At times it looks like silver threads and other times just a lite silver […]

What are some shade-friendly flowering plants or shrubs that slugs don’t like?

Question: I am looking for suggestions on shade-friendly flowering plants or shrubs that slugs do not like. I’m open to all colors and annuals or perennials. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional I have two resources to recommend: UMaine Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet #5036 “Slugs” (for identifying and managing the slug population in your garden) […]

When is the best time to treat for grubs?

Question: The warmer weather earlier in the Spring the last few years has shifted the treatment for grubs in landscapes to earlier and earlier. Do you know when the best time or date in the Spring is now for this year? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional Let me refer you to our UMaine Cooperative […]

Is there something that can be done to prevent further damage and promote healing where a branch broke on a lilac tree?

Question: Branches from our lilac tree broke off leaving a large scar. I assume will heal on its own but is there something I should be doing to prevent bird/insect damage and promote healing? I did make a pruning cut where the wood was still attached. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional Generally speaking, […]

Does my crabapple tree with spotted leaves and black fruit have a disease?

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 […]

How can you treat an Alleghany Viburnam that dropped leaves?

Question: Alleghany Viburnam dropped leaves which turned brown and curled up. I don’t know if this is an insect or fungus problem or something else. How can I fix? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional I’m not sure from the wording of your question if the leaves browned and curled before or after dropping. […]

What created this cocoon on a beach plum?

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 […]

What type of shade trees would be suitable to plant beside the ocean?

Question: Recent storms have severely damaged two spruce at our camp. We are at ocean’s edge on granite. The soil is two feet at best in depth. The site increasingly is hit with salt water several times a year. Spruce bud worm has infected the trees that are presently there. Can you recommend another species […]

Do our White Pines have root rot and do they need to be removed?

Question: I understand that the wet summer and heavy rains are causing root-rot in the white pines. We have lots of them sitting in marine clay. The clay is oozing up around several in our backyard. I assume the roots are rotting and the tree is at risk of toppling? I guess the trees are […]

What is causing the leaves of my fruit trees to turn brown and fall off by September each year?

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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