Participants in today's Greater Cincinnati BYGLive! Diagnostic Walk-About had a successful snipe hunt at the Cincinnati Nature Center. I'm not talking about the mythical forest creature that's only ever been seen by camp counselors or older siblings.

The Ohio State University Turf Team has kicked-off a weekly seasonal video that you won't want to miss if you are a green industry professional working with turf. OSU experts will be sharing turfgrass tips from Memorial Day - Labor Day. We will be sharing these via BYGL each week. 

We're seeing large numbers of tiny, fast-moving bright red mites scurrying around on sunny surfaces such as on picnic tables, patios, sidewalks, concrete retaining walls, and on the outside walls of homes and buildings in southern Ohio. These nuisance mites belong to the genus Balaustium (family Erythraeidae) and are sometimes called "concrete mites" owing to locations where they tend to congregate.

First-generation nests of the deceptively named fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) are now becoming evident in Ohio. This native moth has two generations per season in Ohio with the first-generation appearing once the overwintered eggs hatch.

Forecast models for this summer water quality in Lake Erie indicate a greater chance of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB).

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is becoming more and more evident in landscapes, parks, open lots, and roadsides across Ohio. The non-native plant has taken hold in a small park in NW Ohio and management attempts are currently underway. The photos were taken a couple weeks ago.

This large shrub or small tree, the white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), has a somewhat spreading habit. The plant is in its glory in NW Ohio this week catching gardeners' attention. The white, slightly fragrant flowers, are born in panicles that beautifully hang downward with a very soft and delicate appearance.

The leaves of native elms can look a bit bedraggled at this time of the year owing to rise of pouch-like elm sack galls and the descriptively named elm cockscomb galls. Fortunately, neither of these aphid galls produce significant injury to the overall health of their elm tree host. Unfortunately, these odd looking plant structures can spoil the aesthetics of their deep green elm leaf platforms.

The leaves of native elms, non-natives, and hybrids can look a bit bedraggled at this time of the year owing to the leafmining activity of the elm leafminer sawfly. Fortunately, leafmining by the sawfly larvae has drawn to a close for the season, so the damage you see now will be the most damage that you'll see this season. Unfortunately, sawfly development has moved past effective control options meaning that you'll have to live with the current damage.

The leaves of native elms, non-natives, and hybrids can look a bit bedraggled at this time of the year owing to the adult pit feeding activity and larval leafmining activity of the elm flea weevil. Fortunately, leafmining by the weevil has drawn to a close, so the damage you see now will be the most damage that you'll see this season. Unfortunately, round two of the adult weevil damage is already underway.