Pest Notes for Home & Landscape, Gardening & Pests, Lawn & Garden

Snails and Slugs: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Snails and slugs are among the most bothersome pests in many gardens and landscapes. The brown garden snail (Helix aspersa) is the most common snail in California gardens; it was introduced from France during the 1850s for use as food.

Publication Number:: 7427

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Soil Solarization for Gardens and Landscapes: Pest Notes for Home and Garden

Soil solarization is a simple, nonchemical method for controlling soilborne pests. Find out whether and how it can work for you.

Publication Number:: 74145

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Sooty Mold: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Sooty mold is the common name applied to several species of fungi that grow on honeydew secretions on plant parts and other surfaces. Sooty molds do not infect plants but grow on surfaces where honeydew deposits accumulate.

Publication Number:: 74108

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Spider Mites: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Mites are common pests in landscapes and gardens and can be found feeding on many fruit trees, vines, berries, vegetables, and ornamental plants. Mites are not insects but members of the arachnid class along with spiders and ticks.

Publication Number:: 7405

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Spiders: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Many people fear or dislike spiders but, for the most part, spiders are beneficial because of their role as predators of insects and other arthropods, and most cannot harm people.

Publication Number:: 7442

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Spotted Spurge: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Spotted spurge is a low-growing annual plant that often forms a dense mat. It has dark green, opposite leaves that are 1/8 to 1/2-inch long and about 1/8-inch wide. Leaves are usually marked with a red spot midway down the center leaf vein.

Publication Number:: 7445

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Spotted Wing Drosophila: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD or Drosophila suzukii) are different from the common vinegar fly (D. melanogaster): SWD will attack and spoil previously undamaged fruit. Learn to recognize and control this pest of fresh fruit.

Publication Number:: 74158

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Springtails: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Springtails jump, but they don't bite humans or animals like fleas and they cause only minor damage to plants. Still they can still be a nuisance around pools or damp indoor areas. Learn a few simple, nonchemical measures to keep them under control.

Publication Number:: 74136

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Squash Bugs: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Squash bugs, Order Hemiptera, are common pests in vegetable gardens. Their specialized mouthparts let them pierce foliage and suck plant sap.

Publication Number:: 74144

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Subterranean and Other Termites: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Termite pests in California include drywood, dampwood, and subterranean species. These pests cause serious damage to wooden structures and posts and may also attack stored food, books, and household furniture.

Publication Number:: 7415

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Sudden Oak Death: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Sudden oak death is a recent epidemic that affects coast live oak, California black oak, Shreve oak, and tanbark oak. Tens of thousands of infected and dead trees have been found in Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma counties.

Publication Number:: 74151

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Sycamore Scale: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Sycamore scale, Stomacoccus platani, occurs only on sycamore. The sycamore scale is so tiny, about 1/16 inch long, that many people fail to recognize it as an insect and mistake it for a disease symptom.

Publication Number:: 7409

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Thrips: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Thrips are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings. Some are beneficial predators that feed on other insects and mites, others are pests that feed on plants and scar leaf, flower, or fruit surfaces.

Publication Number:: 7429

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Tree Squirrels: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Squirrels sometimes cause damage around homes and gardens, where they feed on a variety of plants. Learn safe management and control methods for this clever pest.

Publication Number:: 74122

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Voles (Meadow Mice): Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Voles are mouselike rodents somewhat similar in appearance to pocket gophers. The clearest signs of their presence are the aboveground runways that connect burrow openings. Most problems around homes and gardens occur during outbreaks of vole populations.

Publication Number:: 7439

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Walnut Husk Fly: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

The primary damage from the husk fly is staining of the nutshell; a problem in commercial orchards where nuts are grown for in-shell sale, but it can be tolerated in backyard situations. An early-season infestation may result in shriveled, moldy kernels.

Publication Number:: 7430

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Weed Management in Landscapes: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Weed management in landscape plantings is often made difficult by the complexity of many plantings: usually more than one species is planted in the landscaped area and there is a mix of annual and perennial ornamentals.

Publication Number:: 7441

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Weed Management in Lawns: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Weeds occur in every lawn, but they seldom become problems in well-managed, vigorously growing turfgrass. Most weed invasions can be prevented with proper lawn maintenance and good preventative practices or remedied with overseeding.

Publication Number:: 74113

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Whiteflies: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Whiteflies are tiny, sap-sucking insects that may become abundant in vegetable and ornamental plantings, especially during warm weather. Large populations of whiteflies can cause leaves to turn yellow, appear dry, or fall off.

Publication Number:: 7401

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Widow Spiders and their Relatives: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Western Black Widows and Brown Widows (in Southern California) thrive in cluttered, little-used areas around the home. Their bite causes numbness, sweats, and worse -- but there is a good antivenom. Best advice: Keep your garage and yard clutter-free.

Publication Number:: 74149

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Wild Blackberries: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Most species of wild blackberry, also called brambles, provide important sources of food and cover for many birds and mammals. Four species, however, are considered weeds.

Publication Number:: 7434

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Wild Pigs: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Wild pigs are not native to California, but they have been here since the time of early European settlers. They are smart, plentiful, and tough to control. The damage they cause costs agriculture upwards of $1.5 billion per year.

Publication Number:: 74170

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Wild Turkeys: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

Wild turkeys in urban and suburban settings have been considered by some as nuisances, pests, annoyances, destructive, and aggressive.

Publication Number:: 74176

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Windscorpion: Pest Notes for Home and Landscape

The windscorpion is a predatory creature related to spiders. Other names used for it include camel spider and sunspider, but it is neither a spider nor a scorpion. It is common from the arid southwest to California’s San Joaquin Valley.

Publication Number:: 7495

Availability: Electronic Download

$0.00

Download PDF

Pest Notes for Home & Landscape

Notify Me

Email A Friend