Tree stress can come from numerous factors, including weather, mechanical damage, insects, or poor growing conditions. These stresses make plants more susceptible to the plant disease Armillaria root rot. This fungal disease is also known as shoestring root rot, mushroom…

Autumn has arrived in Kentucky, and now is one of the best times to plant new trees. Cool-season planting allows trees to “focus” on root system development. Woody plants may take as long as 3 to 5 years to establish…

Several web-making caterpillars can be active in late summer. They cooperate to bind leaves and branches together into unsightly, but protective, nests where the can feed more or less undisturbed. Species active at this time of year include the relatively…

Woody trees and shrubs may exhibit decline resulting from the stresses that can occur during their lives. Stress may be the result of improper plant or site selection, incorrect planting or maintenance practices, or poor soil conditions. Injury from equipment,…

The magnolia scale, about 1/2 inch in diameter, is a soft scale that feeds on magnolias. Undetected infestations steal sap and vigor from landscape trees while covering foliage with honeydew and the resulting sooty mold.  Heavily infested trees (Figure 1)…

Elm, silver maple, apple hawthorn, and serviceberry often have colonies of woolly aphids living on the undersides of their leaves (Figure 1) in spring. Initially, they clearly look like aphids, but they take on a fluffy appearance later in their…

Sawflies are members of the same insect order (Hymenoptera) that includes ants, bees, and wasps. The larval stage has a caterpillar-like body that may be brightly marked with stripes or spots. Some species change significantly in appearance as they grow,…