Cold Weather Offers an Extension on Poison Hemlock Management

Our slowly developing spring is a real boon to us procrastinators. If you exercise caution by performing a close inspection of what lies beneath, there may still be time to make a non-selective herbicide application to control Poison Hemlock without wiping out preferred plants that have not yet sprung for spring.
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Joe Boggs

Eastern Tent Cats Hatch

Astronomical spring is marked by the vernal equinox. I mark "entomological spring" when overwintered Eastern Tent Caterpillar (ETC) moth eggs hatch. That's why I always collect a few egg masses in late winter and hold them outside (in the shade) so I can monitor for this supernal event. It began happening today at around 12:00 p.m.
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Joe Boggs

Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) Eradication Program in Ohio Scores a "Win"

Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) is potentially the most devastating non-native pest to have ever arrived in North America. The beetle kills trees belonging to 12 genera in 9 plant families. This includes all native maples, a preferred host. Successful eradication is essential to avoiding a catastrophic loss of trees on a scale never before seen in the U.S.
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Joe Boggs

Burrowing Crayfish Rise

The rise of "mud chimneys" produced by Burrowing Crayfish has long been one of my favorite harbingers of spring. I've recently observed several of these mud edifices peaking just above turfgrass in southwest Ohio. While none had yet reached catastrophic lawn mower blade-bending size; spring is definitely in the air.
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Joe Boggs

Act Now to Manage White Pine Weevil

White Pine Weevil is one of our sneakiest conifer pests found in Ohio. Females spend the winter out of sight cooling their six heels in the duff beneath their pine or spruce targets. As temperatures warm in the spring, they climb their hosts to feed and lay eggs in the terminals. Sap oozing from small holes in the terminals is a calling card of this weevil.
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Joe Boggs

Invasive Plants Regulated in Ohio

Here is a look back to look forward as it relates to invasive plants in Ohio and new rules effective January 7, 2018 -

 

In September of 2014, the Ohio General Assembly granted the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) the exclusive authority to regulate invasive plants species. Under the law invasive plants are defined as plant species that are not native to Ohio whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health as determined by scientific studies.

 

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Amy Stone

Invasive Species Awareness Week - ORIENTAL BITTERSWEET - Invasive Species of the Day

Sometimes referred to as the "kudzu of the north", oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is a non-native species that continues to grow and spread in Ohio. The vine is popping up in our woods, fence rows, landscapes and places in between.

 

It is important to know that we do have American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). It has more elliptical shaped leaves, rather than the rounded of the Oriental bittersweet. American bittersweet can also be distinguished from Oriental bittersweet by its leaves when they are just beginning to emerge from...

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Amy Stone