A tangled tale
The practice of making a planting hole with an auger [...]
Squirrels and oaks
Squirrels go after more than acorns on oaks, sometimes to the point where people become alarmed that the trees are diseased.
Japanese beetle
The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is an exotic invasive beetle that is considered a serious plant pest in the United States.
Missing Something: Vole damage to plants
Plants that appear to be doing well in the spring, but then crash in the heat of summer could be missing something – literally. We have received a number of different woody plants showing poor vigor, reduced growth, sun scald on the leaves or stems, small leaves, and branch dieback, all leading to a slow decline of the entire plant and eventual death.
Get to know your backyard slugs and snails
If you’re curious about who might have left that silvery slime trail along your walkway, or who might be munching on your garden plants, we have a handful of online resources to help you identify and learn more about the slugs and snails of Oregon.
Powdery mildew of flowering dogwood
Fungal diseases are often associated with intermittent rains and mild weather and the long hot days of late summer don’t seem ideal for fungal growth, but they are perfect for the powdery mildews.
Downy mildew of radish
Cooler nights and days of fall can create conditions that encourage the disease known as downy mildew. This problem is caused by an organism that is more closely related to brown algae than to fungi: Hyaloperonospora parasitica.
Box Tree Moth
The box tree moth is a potentially serious pest of ornamental boxwood. The caterpillars cause widespread damage by feeding on the leaves and defoliating or killing host plants.