This summer, there have been several phone calls to the Extension office in Lucas County from concerned residents describing red oak trees declining quickly.  Many described their tree(s) exhibiting symptoms that one could suspect that oak wilt (Ceratocystis fagacearum) might be the cause.  The symptoms described included:  flagging of branches in the tree's canopy; withering of leaves that turn brown and ultimately drop before normal seasonal leaf drop; and rapid decline of the overall canopy - some describe it as happening "overnight".  Additionally,...

The Ohio Woodland Stewards newsletter, Ohio Woodlands, Water and Wildlife, is produced three times a year.  It provides subcribers with updates on the latest issues related to woodland management, including insect and disease or invasive plant issues.  Articles are also geared towards expanding a readers knowledge base on a wide variety of topics related to our Ohio woodlands and the management and care of them.  Subscribers can access the newsletter online at any time.  When new issues are released it is available in either hard copy or electronic - just let us know which version...

Folks in Northeastern Ohio complain of itchy welts on their heads, neck and upper torso. The oak itch mite, Pyemotes herfsi, has been identified as the culprit.

The last time Ohio suffered an outbreak was in 2008 in the Cincinnati area. At that time, walkers, joggers and cyclists were complaining that when they followed trails that were overhung by oak trees, they would end up with itchy welts the following day. At that time, the oak itch mite had been recorded as being a periodic pest from Nebraska to Texas and eastward to Tennessee. The bites were most common in July and...

Lace bugs are persisting on many trees and shrubs! Consider controlling them to keep the adults from overwintering and repeating the damage next year!

I noticed several hawthorns this week that have been turned yellow by continual lace bug attack this summer. In fact, some trees are beginning to drop leaves. Upon looking closely, there were numerous adult lace bug still on the leaves. The undersurface of each leaf was coated with tar spots (the fecal spots produced by lace bugs), old egg shells and cast skins. Remember that the lace bug species that infest deciduous trees (i.e.,...

Canadian horseweed (Conyza canadensis, family Asteraceae) has become notorious in recent years for failing to respond to glyphosate (e.g. Roundup) in agricultural fields and landscapes.  This annual weed, which is also known as just horseweed, Canadian fleabane, coltstail, and marestail, has moved in recent years from being a plague in field crops to become a scourge in landscapes and nurseries.  Indeed, this native North America plant has become such a problem in Ohio it has been added to the state's noxious weeds list.

Challenges with managing this weed centers...

Last week, Cindy Meyer (OSU Extension, Butler County) and I found Cryptomeria Scale (Aspidiotus cryptomeriae) on Canaan fir in a Christmas tree farm in southwest Ohio. The literature indicates this non-native armored scale may be found on the underside of needles on a wide range of conifers including true firs (Abies spp.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziensii), hemlocks (Tsuga spp.), spruces (Picea spp.), and perhaps other conifers as well as Taxus (Taxus spp.).  However, it appears that cryptomeria scale has a distinct preference for...

{This Shrub of the Week article and its photos are from Paul Snyder of OSU's Secrest Arboretum at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster.}

  Have you ever had someone come to you looking for a particular plant, and then begin listing all the characteristics they are looking for? “It needs to be dwarf, have lots of flowers all summer, not be messy, and it can’t have thorns…” We have all been there, and we have all thought “With all those requirements you can’t really grow anything but perhaps poison ivy.”

  We often receive questions like this at...

  The three-flowered maple continues to grow and thrive in my backyard and the more I see it planted at the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, at the High Line Park in New York City, and elsewhere, the more I enjoy this tree. This Asian maple will become a small to medium-sized  tree (20-25 feet). Like its cousin paperbark maple, it has exfoliating bark but the bark is not as papery or with the cinnamon color of Acer griseum.

...

  While walking in German Village in Columbus with ONLA’s Frits Risor last week we revisited the Callery pears with rust disease noted earlier this season (http://bygl.osu.edu/node/342). I wanted to see if the rust was isolated to the two trees heavily affected in June. As earlier, the two trees in question were speckled with bright orange lesions on the upper leaf surfaces, but I suspected that by now the rust fungus would have undergone sexual reproduction in the leaves with aecial spore pustules developing  on the lower leaf surfaces as would be seen with the cedar-apple rust fungus (...

  “I am ignorant of almost everything” is a favorite saying of mine, and truth be told it is an obvious truth for us all. It is what makes us so lucky to be plant lovers, since we are reminded with the new personal and universal discoveries of Nature every single day.  Know-it-alls need not apply for attendance at Nature’s banquets – though they might learn the most.  One of my recent revelations of a horticultural bent was about – gourds.  I have seen them, and have a vague sense that they are cucurbits, that is that they are in the Cucurbitaceae, the family that also includes...