Bugging out with Your Camera Phone

We get quite a few requests to identify a pest or diagnose a problem from a digital photo. Emailing a photo of a pest sample rather than finding a container, catching it and bringing it into our office can help you: Identify your pest. Contribute to the body of science by logging your sample in…

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Follow Up Care for Newly Planted Trees – Mulching

Mulching If a little is good, much more is better is not a good mantra for mulching.  For the overall sense of proper mulching technique, take a cue from Mother Nature.  In a forest or natural setting, you’ll commonly see a 2-4 inch layer of fallen leaves, stems, fruits and bark, often referred to as…

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Follow up Care for Newly Planted Trees – Staking

Staking is an “as needed” procedure, generally not automatically recommended for tree planting for two reasons.  The most obvious is that it takes time and costs money for the materials.  Secondly, it is highly desirable for new trees to develop a strong network of lateral roots, which can be limited by staking.   Even though…

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Follow-up Care for Newly Planted Trees – Watering

When a tree fails, it is sometimes difficult to determine the cause.  In many cases, it is due to a failure to spread the roots out in the planting hole or simply planting it too deeply.  Doing so leads to girdling or lack of an adequate amount of oxygen, resulting in death.  Other than the…

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Growing Garlic

If you’ve grown garlic before, you know that the cloves for planting are found readily in the spring.  What many do not know is that fall planted garlic produces larger cloves than spring-planted ones.  Using this opportunity to plant now means it’s not too late to reap the benefits of fall-planted garlic. In selecting a…

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The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated stink bug is a nuisance as well as a destructive pest and, like its name implies, puts off a nasty odor when crushed. This nonnative invasive pest has been in Nebraska since 2012. The damage the BMSB causes is from its needle-like mouthpart that punctures, resulting in sunken bruised areas on fruits….

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Green Tomatoes

It is hard to believe that summer has come to an end.  I almost sound like a broken record saying that this year was challenging.  Nebraska was hit with historic weather that impacted every corner of the state. Portions of the Omaha area was hit with hail late May that made us replant our vegetable…

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Planting Spring Flowering Bulbs

For color in the spring, you’ve got to plant in the fall.  Unfortunately, here’s a common scenario that we see all too often: novice gardeners drive around town noticing landscapes in April, green with envy because they are jealous over all the flowering spring bulbs they see.  Of course, it’s too late to plant them…

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A New Can of Worms!

Nebraskans are talking about an invasive worm. They are commonly referred to as “Asian jumping worms”, “jumping worms”, “crazy worms”, or “snake worms”. I like to call them crazy worms because whether they jump or move in a serpentine motion, they certainly behave in an uncharacteristic way for a worm. The short story is that…

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Fall Inspection of Trees and Shrubs

September and October are great months to enjoy working in the garden and viewing landscape plants, enjoying the outcomes of season long efforts of care.  In addition to digging, replanting, weeding, dividing and other fall routines, inspection is a key step in maintaining a sustainable landscape.   Inspection?  What does that mean?  Simply put, it’s…

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