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SCOUTING INFORMATION BY REGION REGIONAL
NOTES
- Southeast Region (Hanson) – General Conditions: Hanson received 1.96 inches of rain over the past four weeks. Fall foliage color was good this year. Warm days, cool nights, and moist soils may have contributed to the fall color. Many trees have dropped their leaves however, oaks, American beech, birch, Japanese maples, Norway maples (invasive), Larch, Metasequoia, Cercis canadensis, Fringetree, Kousa dogwoods, Clethra, along with the invasive plants, barberry, burning bush, and bittersweet, are all providing fall color. Late season perennials still in bloom are: Aconitum sp., (Monkshood), Lamium, Montauk daisy, Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Sheffield Pink Chrysanthemum, Korean Chrysanthemums and Corydalis lutea, as well as some landscape roses. The fruits of autumn olive (invasive), staghorn sumac, kousa dogwood, crabapple, hollies, hawthorn, and Viburnum are also providing landscape color. Pests/Problems: Lawns are still green but reports have come in of skunks and birds digging up lawns looking for insects. (often white grubs). Western conifer seed bugs, boxelder beetles, Asian ladybugs (Harmonia axyridis) have started entering buildings. These insects are often referred to as 'fall invaders' as they seek places to enter to overwinter. Slugs and snails are still active on herbaceous plants. There are no other insects or diseases to report. Now is a good time for fall cleanup especially those areas that had problems with voles or had significant plant disease problems, like powdery mildew, apple scab, black spot, anthracnose, etc. After fall cleanups or hikes, check frequently for ticks, especially deer ticks. East Region (Boston) – General Conditions: No conditions report this month. Metro West (Waltham) – General Conditions: We have had our killing frost over most of the area with cool and dry weather conditions. Metro West (Hopkinton) – General Conditions: Fall color on Red and White oaks has been remarkable this past month. Central Region (Boylston) – General Conditions: No conditions report this month. See Environmental Data and Phenology below. Pioneer Valley Region (Amherst) - General Conditions: The first light frosts along with a couple of rainy days accompanied the colorful autumn foliage in the Pioneer Valley. There is still a fair amount of fall color in the Valley. Oaks, Norway maple, ginkgo, dogwood, Euonymus, and several other trees and shrubs are showing yellow-orange to shades of red-brown. The regular rainfall and mild temperatures in the Pioneer Valley throughout the month of October kept lawns in the area a rich green, and the late summer lawn renovations and reseedings established well. Pest/Problems: The yellowing of Norway maple leaves made the tar spot disease more obvious than it already was earlier on the green leaves. Berkshire Region (Great Barrington) - General Conditions: Soil moisture levels are high after a relatively moist month which included a snowfall on October 28-29. Depth of snowfall varied from a dusting to several inches depending on location and elevation. With soil temperatures near 50° F and high soil moisture, turfgrass is still growing; late season mowing should not be ignored. Pest/Problems: Deer ticks and deer browsing are only significant problems. The following growing-degree-day (GDD) and precipitation data was collected for a four-week period, October 8, 2008 through November 5, 2008. Soil temperature and phenological indicators were observed on November 5, 2008. Accumulated GDDs represent the heating units above a 50° F baseline temperature collected via our instruments from the beginning of the current calendar year. This information is intended for use as a guide for monitoring the developmental stages of pests in your location and planning management strategies accordingly.
CAPE COD REGION - Roberta Clark, Horticulturist for Barnstable County, Barnstable. SOUTHEAST REGION - Deborah Swanson, Horticulturist for UMass Extension in Plymouth County, Hanson.
EAST REGION - James R. Allen, Horticulturist and Greenhouse Manager
for UMass Biology Department, Boston. METRO WEST REGION – James Martin, Consulting Arborist, reporting from the UMass Extension Center, Waltham. METRO WEST REGION – Mark Sawyer, Horticulturist, Weston Nurseries, Hopkinton. CENTRAL REGION - Joann Vieira, Superintendent of Horticulture, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston. PIONEER VALLEY - Dan Gillman, Plant Pathologist, UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab, UMass, Amherst. BERKSHIRES - Ron Kujawski, Specialist, UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program, Amherst.
WEEDS - At this time of the year, summer annual weeds such as crabgrass, spotted spurge and carpetweed are beginning to “melt away”. “Melting away” is a term I created to describe the slow decline of summer annuals in response to cooler weather and shorter days. At the same time cool-season grasses are actively growing and rebounding from stresses of summer. Now is the time to scout for summer annual weeds and evaluate this season’s management program. Map and/or record problem areas and plan next year's control measures. Overseeding and/or fertilization can be used to fill openings or thinning in turf stands that have developed as a result of summer annual weed pressure. With some areas already having received frost,
weed control efforts should be focused on perennial and young winter
annual broadleaf weeds. Broadleaf herbicide applications
should be in full swing now. Fall applications, while not
as fast acting as spring applications, will provide very effective
control especially of difficult-to-control weeds such as violets and ground
ivy. Products
that contain dicamba and/or triclopyr should be used to control
ground ivy and violets. For all applications the use of
ester formulations of broadleaf herbicides would be preferred
over amine formulations at this time. The additions of
surfactant or spreader/stickers to broadleaf herbicide combination
products can result in severe injury. Read and follow the
product label.
Reported by Randall Prostak, Weed Specialist, UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program, Amherst. IMPORTANT INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES For a complete listing of upcoming events, see our Conferences and Workshops page. Don't forget to visit the UMass Extension Online Weed Herbarium!
Planting and Maintaining Sustainable
Landscapes: A Guide for Public Officials and the Green Industry -
An updated and reprinted collection of fact sheets, including
Trees and Shrubs for Low Maintenance Landscapes; Recommendations
for Planting and Maintaining Trees and Shrubs; Integrated
Pest Management and Plant Health Care; Streetscape Design
and Planting; Selecting Turfgrasses for Low Maintenance Sites;
Turf Pesticides and the Environment; Children's Protection
Act and School IPM Plans; and Guidelines for Planting within
the 100 Foot Wetland Buffer. Click
here to order online from the UMass Extension Bookstore DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES UMass Laboratory Diagnoses Turf and
Landscape Problems - Accurate
diagnosis for a turf or landscape problem can often eliminate
or reduce the need for pesticide use. The UMass Extension
Plant Diagnostic Lab is available to serve commercial
landscape contractors, turf managers, arborists, nurseries
and other green industry professionals. It provides woody
plant and turf disease analysis, woody plant and turf
insect identification, turfgrass identification, weed
identification, and offers a report of pest management
strategies that are research based, economically sound
and environmentally appropriate for the situation. Send
specimens and payment (payable to the University of Massachusetts)
to UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab, Holdsworth Natural
Resources Center, 160 Holdsworth Way, UMass, Amherst,
MA 01003. The fee for a woody plant disease analysis
is $50; the fee for turf disease analysis or nematode
assay is $75. All insect, weed and turfgrass identification
samples are $25 each. For more detailed submission instructions
see http://www.umass.edu/agland/diagnostics Soil and Plant Tissue Testing -
The University of Massachusetts Soil and Plant Tissue Testing
Laboratory is located on the campus of The University of Massachusetts
at Amherst. Testing services are available to all. The function
of the Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Laboratory is to provide
test results and recommendations that lead to the wise and economical
use of soils and soil amendments. For complete information, visit
the UMass Soil and Plant tissue Testing Laboratory web site at: http://www.umass.edu/soiltest NEXT UPDATE: The next issue will be available on or about December 5, 2008. This message is produced by the UMASS Extension, Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program. The copy is prepared by Anna Greene from data and reports provided by the staff and faculty of the UMass Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program and the UMASS Extension Turf Program as well as cooperating horticulturists and Green Industry professionals. The text is adapted for access via the Internet by Jason Lanier. DISCLAIMER. This message is intended for commercial use. UMass Extension assumes no liability for recommendations. It is the responsibility of the applicator to verify the registration status of any pesticide BEFORE applying it. Different states have different regulations as well. The use of trade names (™) does not imply endorsement. Similarly, there may be other products you prefer to use. Comments or suggestions in regard to the Landscape Message? Please e-mail the webmaster. Missed a previous message? Visit the Landscape Message Archive.
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2008-2009 Professional Management Guide
for Insects, Diseases and Weeds of Trees and Shrubs in New
England - Pesticide label
registration changes every year in all states and you can only
legally apply pesticides according to the current year's label.
This updated 2008-09 guide tells you what is current and legal
for use in all the New England states and is the way for you
to stay current with pesticide information. If you already
have the 2003 version, this is the updated supplement for pesticide
information. Remember, if you're a pesticide applicator, it's
the law! Created by UMass Extension professionals, this manual
offers the latest on virtually all the insects, diseases, and
weeds of woody plants in New England; current and legal listings
of chemical compounds labeled for the management of these pests;
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) considerations for most of
these pests; environmentally friendly alternatives in pest
management such as horticultural oils, soaps, biologicals,
etc.; and Growing Degree Day (GDD) information for most of
the insect pests of woody plants. 
