A few weeks ago a colleague sent me a new item about a municipality that had a concern about wild parsnips. They can be as bad as poison ivy. Never heard of that before, so I better find out.
Fine, I said, but what do they look like. So you do a Google image search for "wild Parsnip." Fine, yellow flowers and all. Then did a Google search for "wild Parsnip." The top of the list was an article entitled Burned by wild parsnip. These particular weeds can cause "phyto-photo-dermatitis" to those who come in contact with the leaves or stems.
These chemicals in the plants on the skin cause an inflammation of the skin when these areas are exposed to sunlight.
Learned something new today, I said.
Then a week or two later, we were walking through the fields behind a friends property when I saw these yellow flowers. Hey, they look like the wild parsnips. I told Tim, I would check it out and let him know. But to be sure I took a picture for comparison. Sure enough, they were wild parsnips. I sent Tim the information in an email.
Then a few days later, I saw a huge patch of the wild parsnips near the York bridge. And as I drove down the road today, I could see more patches here and there. There are a number of other roadside plants with yellow flowers blooming right now, but the flower head is quite unique. Seems to grow in the areas that the county does not mow because of the slope of the roadside or because of a hydro pole.
So if you are out and about in the countryside, please keep a watch out for this dangerous weed.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Wild Parsnips
Monday, July 9, 2007
Japanese Beetle
Several people have reported the adults eating the leaves of their grapes vines and other home landscape ornamentals. Japanese adult beetle will feed on a wide range of ornamental plants. They skeletonize foliage giving it the characteristic lacy look
Adult beetles can fly. This mobility makes it harder to control them. There are several insecticides registered for the adults. Treatments may need to be repeated to ensure adequate coverage of the plants' foliage.
Japanese beetle traps are one way to eliminate the adults. Rittenhouse says their trap is to attact male beetles, but they suggest not using the trap if you don't have a problem. This trap uses sex pheromones to attract the male beetle.
Upper Canada and Natural Insect Control have a trap that uses a floral attractant as well as a pheromone that lures both sexes.
Also the Japanese beetle larvae are the White grubs which can wreak havoc on a lawn. I would recommend considering a Merit application to control the larvae.Also nematodes are a consideration to control white grubs.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Rain at Last
Today, we have finally gotten some much needed rain.
Last evening around 6 pm, we were at a picnic. Just as we started to eat, a few rain drops splattered here and there. It can rain all it likes in a couple of hours, I thought. It held off for the benefit of the picnickers.
This morning early, there were a few more drops, just enough to wet the ground everywhere. Then as I got to the office, it has been raining fairly steady all day (at least until mid afternoon).
This slow steady rain will be much more useful than a quick thundershower that pours down buckets in a short time. Much of that type of rain will not soak into the ground- much will end up running off into the storm sewers. An all-day rain will penetrate deeply.
Just in case the summer continues to be hot and dry here are some watering guidelines for your lawn. On the other hand, if giving you these tips help the rain to fall on a regular basis (once a week, preferably at night) then so much the better.
When watering your lawn, it's best to water at least one inch (2.5 cm) per week, preferably all at one time. Deep watering will encourage deep rooting which will help the lawn in dry weather. Frequent shallow watering discourages deep roots.
Watering in the mornings before the sun gets too hot is more efficient than watering during the heat of the day. A lot of water will be lost to evaporation. If you are paying for your water, why waste it.
Too much water can lead to fungus disease problems. Excessive moisture encourages soft succulent leaf blades that are more susceptible to disease infection.
Mow your lawn high. Set the blade so that it cuts the grass at 3 inches (7.5 cm) high . The longer leaf blades will shade the soil and the roots so less water is lost to evaporation. The cooler soil temperatures are also beneficial to the lawn.
Aerate your lawn each year (spring or fall) to improve water penetration. Apply a high-quality grass seed after the aeration to increase the lawn's density.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
First Fertilization for $28.88
Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs can be very damaging to a lawn. As seen in the photo, they will eat the grass, but leave the weeds alone.
Chinch bugs are tiny insects about the size of an ant. Chinch bugs have short legs while ants have long legs. (I compare chinch bugs as roadsters and ants as monster trucks)
If you do end up with too many chinch bugs, the lawn will turn yellow. The chinch bugs suck the sap out of the grass plants. The lawn often looks as if it is lacking water, which in a sense it is. Watering the lawn just helps the grass to stay hydrated so that the chinch bugs can continue to feed.
Chinch bugs prefer the sunny areas of the lawn. I inspected a lawn once that was in front of a north facing building. Most of the lawn had been destroyed- except for about 8 feet near the building. The unusual thing was that the edge of the damage was in a nice neat straight line. I realized that the chinch bugs were happy to feed on the lawn in the sun, but stayed away from the lawn shaded by the building. (Now if they ran out of lawn in the sun, would they have gone to the lawn in the shade?)
We have found that an organic insecticide is usually effective in controlling the chinch bug damage.
We have realized that with insects and chinch bugs in particular that stopping the lawn from going brown is possible without necessarily eradicating all the chinch bugs.
More information on chinch bugs in our website library.
To go to our website
or to request a quote online
June 19/07 Jeff, one of our technicians found chinch bugs nymphs on a sunny lawn in Ancaster today. They had caused a patch about 3 feet in diameter to go yellow. Normally we think of July as the month for Chinch bug damage. I believe the warm weather of the past 3 weeks has hastened the maturity of the chinch bugs and also hastened the damage to the lawns.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Gypsy Moth Caterpillars
These destructive pest
Gypsy Moth Caterpillar - these caterpillars are dark and hairy with a double row of 5 pairs of blue and 6 pairs of red spots from head to tail. They feed on many tree species. Favourites include birches, lindens, crabapples, mountain ash, willows, oaks, blue spruce and many other trees. Voracious feeders, these caterpillars have been known to defoliate trees.
Trap caterpillars by tying a band of burlap around tree trunks. Inspect daily and destroy caterpillars.
Use Acecaps to prevent damage or foliar treatments. These must be applied by a professional
Turf King uses either Acecaps for larger trees or an organic insecticide containing Neem oil to control the Gypsy Moth Caterpillar
To contact us www.hamilton.turfking.ca
or to request a quote online
or Phone 905.318.6677 or 1.888.TURFKING
See the CBS news report on these pests from YouTube
Monday, June 4, 2007
Footprints in da Dew
On an early morning walk through the golf course, these foot prints were visible in the dew on the fairway. I'm guessing a deer. There were a lot of deer seen along the roadways in the area as well.
We saw other foot prints- one looked like a raccoon with its tail dragging in the dew.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Renovating spots of thick bladed grass, cont'd
