A terrible blizzard blew through our area last week. It did a lot of damage to many things, including trees. Tree branches broke and trees fell over or broke at the trunk. While some of this damage may have been from wind, the heavy, wet snow may have impacted trees as well. As we dig…
Author: Nicole Stoner
Nicole Stoner is a Nebraska Extension Educator based out of Gage County in Beatrice, NE. Nicole is an ISA Certified Arborist and is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. She obtained her Master's Degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for Horticulture with a minor in Insect Science and she has Bachelor's Degrees in both areas. Nicole's focus areas include: trees, shrubs, lawns, gardens, and insects.
Drought Effects on Trees
The drought is continuing across the state of Nebraska. This drought has been going on for over 3 years and we are already seeing problems in our plants. These problems will continue to get worse if we don’t have good precipitation through spring and summer this year. Photo of Drought Stress on a tree above…
Butterflies and Moths
Summer is really here, not quite by calendar, but definitely the temperatures, and bugs. As an Entomologist, I love when insects become active, but I know not everyone feels the same about bugs. I do not like mosquitoes and other annoying bugs that bother me outside and I especially dislike those that do damage to…
Storm Damaged Plants
This time of year, storms can be bad. We have had quite a few storm systems move through the area over the past few weeks. Some of these storms included high winds, hail, and even tornadoes. Unfortunately, when storms are severe they cause a lot of damage to our plants. This damage can’t be ‘fixed’…
Asparagus
Spring is here, officially, but that doesn’t mean we should get overly excited and go clean up our landscape beds just yet. However, Asparagus will soon be emerging from previous plantings and new plantings can be started soon. Planting & Care Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that will come back every year providing you with…
Plan for Spring Color
This time of year can become long and full of anticipation for spring flowers. You can plan now for different plants to add to your landscape to help with winter interest next year, even flowers. Helleborus Lenten Rose or Helleborus is a perennial plant with evergreen leaves. It grows up to 15-18 inches in tall…
Snow Impacts on the Landscape
We really saw a lot of snow this past week. I know not all people appreciate snow as much as others. It makes travel difficult and is accompanied by very cold temperatures, and also, in some cases, our plants don’t appreciate it either. On the other hand, there are some plant benefits to all this…
Fall and Winter Watering
It is at this time of the year that I get questions asking if people should still be watering their plants or hear people say they just don’t need to water plants again until spring. However, it is very important to keep watering plants to ensure they go into the winter with a full reservoir…
Fall Invading Insects
It is September, which means all the outdoor insects will start coming inside or bothering us more when we enjoy the cooler weather in the evening. Fall invading insects are just another thing to deal with, but they can be managed. Photo above of Minute Pirate Bug is from Jody Green, Urban Entomologist, Extension Educator…
Plants for Fall Interest
In August, many of our flowers are starting to fade for the year. It also is one of our hotter months of the year and it makes it difficult to do much outdoors. However, there are some great plants that start to reach their stride in August and September. The photo shown is of Illinois…