Euonymous Branch Demise

/Euonymous Branch Demise/

Euonymous Branch Demise

Your bush looks like a Euonymous, an evergreen bush common in your area, but we can't be sure without a close up of the leaves. Regardless of the type of bush it is, it clearly has suffered damage to several branches, either from mechanical injury, a disease process, or from some type of critter.

We recommend removing the dead branches as far as they extend into the base of the shrub. You'll want to closely inspect both the damaged branches and the soil around the base of the shrub to try to determine what may have caused the branches to die.

Individual branches on any plant can suffer and even die from the weight of heavy snow. Often the damage isn't seen until mid-late spring. Look for bent and splintered branches.

Also look for signs of critter damage such as nests, chewing marks on the dead branches, etc., so you can deal with the offending critter(s) before more branch damage occurs. Sometimes voles, small field mice, get into these shrubs and chew the outer layer of the branches, cutting off the water supply. They leave trails or furrows in the soil at the base of the plant. You'll want to contact your local extension agency for control information if you see critter damage. Here's a link to their website - http://extension.usu.edu/saltlake/

If you don't see evidence of the above, check the dead branches for swollen areas called galls. These are present when an insect or bacteria has entered the branch. They also cut off water supply to the branch. Here's a link to a website with more information, including pictures of galls, so you'll know what to look for - http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_pests/shrubs/hgic2054.html
If you find galls, remove the branch, including the portion with the gall. Whatever tools you use to remove the dead branches, don't use those tools on any other plants, including this one, until you have sanitized them by wiping them with rubbing alcohol in case their is a disease process that could be spread to other plants via your pruners.

Your decision as to whether to remove just the affected branches and wait for regrowth or remove the entire shrub is somewhat based on determining the source of the damage. If it's bacterial, resulting in galls, the same infection can occur on a new similar shrub. If all of this seems overwhelming and a lot of work, you can simply remove an affected branch back to the base of the shrub and take to a local nursery or to your extension agency for a more thorough examination and suggestions on removing the entire shrub vs removing just the affected branches.

By | 2015-11-17T11:23:00-08:00 November 17th, 2015|Plant Diseases|0 Comments
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Fungal Or Environmental Damage

This damage could be caused by two different things and without observing the plant over time it's impossible to tell which, but we'll explain both and perhaps you can sort out which problem you have. (Know that even for the experts, however, sometimes it's hard to tell what is causing symptoms unless you culture the tissue in a lab and look at what grows under a microscope.)

This could either be a fungus or something environmental. By "environmental" we mean something that hit the leaves such as a cleaning product, liquid fertilizer, plant product such as a too strong fungicide etc. If this damage was caused by something dropping on, or being sprayed on, the leaves it won't continue as long as that spraying/splashing has stopped. So one thing to do is to remove the worst of the leaves so you can better monitor the plant to see if more new spots appear. If they do not appear it's likely that the problem was something environmental.

Fungal problems might continue to develop, however. These spots look awfully round for a fungal problem but some fungi do produce rather regular round spots so it's possible. Most fungal problems are made worse, or promoted by, having wet foliage. So don't mist the leaves of this plant. Again, clipping off the worst of the leaves might make it easier to monitor if the problem is still going on.

Bottom line is what should you do now, right? Even if you don't know what is causing the situation here is how you can help your plant:

1. Citrus trees in pots appreciate a steady rate of fertilization. Give this plant a monthly dose of an organic fertilizer formulated for citrus trees.
2. Don't spray the foliage with anything for awhile to allow things to settle down. No misting, no products to try and "help."
3. If this plant has been in the same pot for more than two years transplant it into a slightly larger container with fresh potting mix, and don't put any rocks/shards etc in the bottom of the pot or anything over the drainage holes.
4. Be sure the plant is in the brightest, sunniest place you have. You could also supplement with a gro-light if you wanted to. Be aware that many indoor plants lose their foliage at this time of year since there are fewer hours of daylight. This is normal.
5. Keep citrus evenly moist but not constantly wet. In other words, don't let the plant completely dry out in between waterings but don't let it sit in water either.

By | 2015-11-17T02:43:50-08:00 November 17th, 2015|Fruit Plants & Trees|0 Comments
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Ground Ivy Or Creeping Charlie

This appears to be a very aggressive ground cover (Glechoma hederacea) that is often seen trying to take over the garden or lawn. Also known as creeping Charlie, though other more desirable plants also have that common name. From Europe. It should be easy to pull out if it hasn't gotten too established but once the roots have taken hold, it's pretty hard to get rid of. Where it can be contained, however, it makes a fine groundcover.

The first thing to understand when working to get rid of creeping charlie is that it, like most lawn weeds, thrive best in an unhealthy lawn. Be sure to use proper mowing, watering and fertilizing practices when caring for your lawn.

Treating your lawn with a broadlead herbicide containing dicamba or triclopyr in the fall and then again in the spring will go a long way towards eradicating this weed. But those herbicides can't be used in Canada.

There is some disagreement about the effectiveness of borax. If you apply it in the right amount, household borax is slightly more toxic to creeping Charlie than to grass, so you can kill the weed but spare the lawn. It does have its limits: It's going to burn the grass if you apply it too heavily, and you can apply it only once a year for 2 years before you exceed the level that will harm grass.

To treat an area of approximately one thousand infested square feet, dissolve 10 ounces of Twenty Mule Team Borax in four ounces of warm water. When you have all the borax in solution, mix this into two and a half gallons of warm water, stir well, and spray directly on the weed with a sprayer that has never held chemicals of any kind! (One that you've used to apply non-toxic things like deer repellant, compost tea, or beneficial nematodes is fine; just remember to always clean your sprayer after every use, including this one—you don't want any residual borax in there.)

You'll get the best results when the weed is dry and rain is not predicted for a few days afterward. And be vigilant when any new runners appear. You need to keep pulling because not every single root will be killed and new plants will germinate from seed. No matter what method you use, you will have to fight over several years.

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:34-07:00 November 17th, 2015|Weeds|0 Comments
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Leaf Scorch

This is leaf scorch, not a disease or insect problem. The most common causes of leaf scorch include the following:
1. Plant getting hit with a household or garden product, liquid fertilizer, herbicide or hot water from a sun-heated hose. Although any of these can kill individual leaves, unless the entire plant is hit such damage seldom kills the entire plant.
2. Sunburn - this would normally happen if a plant is raised in a greenhouse or very shady spot and suddenly moved into strong sun. It might happen if a shading tree is suddenly moved. This doesn't look like what has happened to your plant, but we list it to be complete.
3. Heat - exhaust from equipment working next to the plant etc.
4. Burn from being covered - if someone draped a tarp over the plant temporarily, for example, and that magnified the heat of the sun.
5. Salt spray. High wind off the ocean, salt water from other sources.
6. Drought combined with any of the conditions above.

Sometimes we don't ever figure out what damaged a plant, or it might suddenly occur to us after time goes by. In any case, since it's the end of the season and these plants will soon lose their leaves it's unlikely that your shrub will be permanently damaged. Water the ground all around this hydrangea very well to wash anything out of the soil that might have been applied to the ground as well as the plant. If you want to be really nice to this shrub, apply a layer of composted manure all around the plant on the surface of the soil.

By | 2015-11-17T01:56:14-08:00 November 17th, 2015|Shrubs|0 Comments
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Squash Bugs Or Squash Vine Borers

It is hard to tell what particular pest destroyed your squash plants. Squash Vine Borers and Squash bugs are very likely. It appears there are a few things going on here. Something is making a meal out of the leaves, and from appearance of the blossoms (as best we can see in this picture), there may be a pollinator issue as well. Squash bugs, and borers, adult beetles and nymphs, chew holes in leaves, and heavy infestations can reduce yields significantly

Squash Bug adults look like long brown stink bugs, with a flat abdomen. Nymphs are pale green to grey with a black head and legs. Older nymphs are covered in a grey powder. The eggs are oval, dark brown, and shiny, and are layed in clusters. Once they become numerous they are almost impossible to stop. Check with your local organic garden center for the best way to proceed.

Squash vine borer adults look like black wasps with red markings, they lay single eggs that hatch out as larva-- they look similar to a cream colored caterpillar. These larva tunnel into the crown and stems of the plant, and proceed to eat the juicy green inner plant tissue. The plant suddenly looks wilted and if the larva is allowed to go unchecked, can kill the plant in 3-4 days. Do daily checks of the crown areas, your looking for what appears to be piles of wet saw dust, this is actually frass, caterpillar poop. This is where they enter the stem and began to eat. If caught early you can gently cut a slit in the stem and pluck the culprit out.

By | 2015-11-16T23:56:05-08:00 November 16th, 2015|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Nutrient Deficiency

From the photo it appears there is be a nutrient deficiency - looks like a phosphorus deficiency. If the plant is growing "in-ground" deficiencies are usually not due to lack of nutrients in the soil (unless you used high amounts of soil amendments or organic matter that hasn't broken down yet), but often nutrient deficiency is caused by over or under-watering for the needs of the plant. Over-watering can cause the plant to produce vegetative growth rather than flowers, and underwatering is stressful for the plant and it may respond by not producing flowers if the plant is a flowering one. In water stressed situations, plant roots either begin to rot or dry out and therefore can't function sufficiently to absorb nutrients along with water and we see the deficiency in leaf tissues. We recommend watering more deeply and less frequently rather than providing smaller amounts more frequently. If the water does not soak into the soil quickly and begins to runoff before you can provide a sufficient amount, you can apply water until it just begins to runoff, let that water soak in, apply more again until just before runoff, let that soak in, and repeat this several times during one irrigation (in the same day). We recommend keeping the soil evenly moist, and avoiding fluctuations between dry and flooded soils to keep the fertilizer salts diluted in the moist soil. A slow release/time-release fertilizer is also recommended.

By | 2015-11-16T16:45:56-08:00 November 16th, 2015|Annuals|0 Comments
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Poor Soil

Looks like you have clay soil. If the soil doesn't drain well and stays wet, your plants are essentially sitting in a bathtub and drowning. A classic case of overwatering. (The tricky part is that overwatering exhibits the same symptoms as the plant is just not able to take up the water it needs because the vessels in the plant clog up and cannot transport water to the plant.) Clay take a long time to change its structure.
(We do not usually endorse products here but the following I have had good luck with.) There is a soil amendment from Kellogg called N'RICH that will help a bit. You should be able from any big box store. Follow label directions. Link: http://www.kellogggarden.com/products?brand=kellogg&category=kellogg-soils#8
Next you need to plant things that will do ok in your soil. Here are links to 3 articles that give some ideas:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/best-plants-to-grow-in-clay/
http://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/gardening-basics/top-10-plants-clay-soil/?item=0#top-ten-item
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/Gardening/Gardening%20Help/Factsheets/Clay%20Soils%20-%20Annuals5.pdf
Some of theses plants are from out of our climate Again, I mention the Sunset Western Garden Book - Ninth Edition to use as a guide to tell you what zone you are in and what will grow there. (You can get it at a reasonable price on Amazon.)
You may also want to enlist the help from your local Cooperative Extension office. Not sure if you are LA County or Ventura County so here is yet another link:) :
http://ucanr.edu/County_Offices/
Best of luck. And please get back to us if you should need more assistance.

By | 2015-11-13T20:50:20-08:00 November 16th, 2015|Shrubs|0 Comments
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Problems With Dwarf Alberta Spruce

There are a few things that can cause damage such as this to a dwarf Alberta spruce. Spruce spider mites cause areas to first brown and then die. The problem often spreads and can kill a plant. Secondly, winter damage from wind or salt exposure can make a DAS bare on one side as well. Thirdly, any plant that might have been hit with herbicide, salt, household cleaning products, hot water from a sun heated hose etc will experience dieback.

Our best guess for your plant is spruce spider mites. There is a way to see if there are mites: put a piece of clean white paper under a branch or two, then shake the tree/branch. Little moving dots are red spider mites.If uncertain, crush and smear the dots. Mites will produce a brown streak when smashed.

In our region, our hot, dry summers make these shrubs very vulnerable to attack from the mites. Unfortunately these plants don't regrow from bare wood, ever. So those parts of the plant that are dead now will always be dead, and the green growth on this plant doesn't look too healthy either.

Hose the plants down thoroughly, with a forceful blast of water from the hose, and make sure they are well watered -not soggy- but that the soil is wet down to at least 6 inches or more. We like to build a little "moat" z(about 3-4 inches deep) around shrubs, out at the drip line, where the ends of the branches reach. Fill that up with water and let it disappear a couple times. In a few more days, repeat the hose blast, and fill up the moat again.

See if this helps at all. The cooler weather is on its way.

Let us know if this helps.

Thank you.

By | 2015-11-13T20:55:26-08:00 November 16th, 2015|Trees|6 Comments
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Poor Root System Or Soil Issue

Its probably a root, and/or water and/or soil issue. Often times we see plants in a group or row do this for two reasons: 1) If the plants have been recently planted, this plant has not developed a proper root system for the needs of its above-ground growth. This could occur due to extreme differences in the ground soil and the soil/amendments put in the hole around the plant. If the soil around the hole is very hard and does not drain well, it can act like a bowl and hold too much water at the root zone. 2) For newer or older plants, it could be due to excess or not enough water for the soil composition in that area. You would think that soil in the same area is exactly the same throughout, but it can be different enough in the area of this plant's root zone to creat a problem; and sometimes we don't realize the water is either draining toward or maybe away from a particular plant. It would be important to know if the plant wilts during the warmest part of the day, and then recovers in the cooler evening and morning hours. This would indicate a root rot issue that could be encouraged by too much water in the soil (for the soil composition in this particular area). We recommend checking for irrigation leaks in the immediate area, proper operation of any irrigation in this area, and appropriate watering schedules for these plants. If you can correct any issues, the plant should recover but it may take some time. If the plant continues to decline, we recommend pulling it out of the ground and examining the root growth for white healthy roots (vs. brown, very wet roots), and soil moisture. The soil should be moist, not wet and not extremely dry. If you find the roots have not grown due to extreme soil hardpack, correct any issues with hole preparation, mix ground soil with well draining soil amendments to put back around the root ball of this plant and water properly. If the roots are rotten, correct any issues and replace with a new plant, planting as described. Keep in mind that if this is being caused by a fungal pathogen in the soil, the disease will be encouraged by excess moisture and putting most any plant back in this same spot without proper soil and water may cause the same problem again. You can allow the area to dry completely (under as much heat as possible) to try and reduce incidence of diseases that occur in soil.

By | 2015-11-16T00:16:38-08:00 November 16th, 2015|Shrubs|0 Comments
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Aphids

This is probably common sap-sucking insect pests (found on many plants) called Aphids. Its hard to be 100% positive because we can't see the pest clearly enough in this photo, but they are a common pest of Rose, and when populations are high and they are developing thru their life cycle quickly, we see their shed skins stuck to the leaves like this (a result of their normal gradual metamorphosis from young nymph stages to adult). You'll want to look for the green (usually, but they can also be yellow, black, and peach colored) insects on the undersides of the leaves and on developing flower buds. The good news is, they are pretty easy to control. The females reproduce live young (minatures of themselves) in multiple numbers, and without being fertilized by a male, so they can reproduce quickly in the right environment. As they suck out the sugary plant sap they also excrete it, which makes the leaves sticky. We recommend you control this population as soon as possible by either spraying off with a high pressure spray of water, (you may have to do this several times on consecutive days to get them under control), and/or pick off the most infested leaves. If they contine to re-populate you'll need to keep up with them - wipe off by hand, use high pressure water spray, or use products like pesticidal soaps or horticultural oil. Be careful to follow the directions on all product labels. (The oil in particular can cause plant damage if applied incorrectly/under high temps and low moisture conditions). We've included a link with more info about Aphids and ways to control them.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/aphidscard.html

By | 2015-11-13T20:51:54-08:00 November 15th, 2015|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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