Last Seasonal Issue of the Home, Yard, and Garden Newsletter

Issue no. 17 of the Home, Yard & Garden Newsletter is now available on the Web. Point your browser to:

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu

IN THIS ISSUE:

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Last Issue for 2013

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=543

This is the seventeenth and last issue of the Home, Yard, and Garden Pest Newsletter for 2013. Included is an index of this year's topics. We anticipate resuming publication in April 2014. Thanks for your interest and reports of pest situations that help us be more relevant to your situation.

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New Pest Management Guide in 2014

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=544

A new revision of the Illinois Commercial Landscape and Turfgrass Pest Management Handbook will be available in 2014. We are currently on target for publication in January 2014. The last edition was in 2010, so it will be contain new insect pests, diseases, and weeds of trees, shrubs, turf, and flowers. Pesticide recommendations are updated to reflect current commercially available materials.

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White Grubs

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=545

The drought of 2012 and reduced irrigation of turf during that time greatly reduced the emergence of Japanese beetle adults and production of associated grubs this year. Masked chafers are influenced less by dry weather, and their grubs are present, generally in relatively low numbers.

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They're Back ... First Detector Workshops Scheduled for 2014

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=546

As promised, we have news on the upcoming 2014 First Detector Workshops. Dates have been officially set, and plans are taking place to make this second installment of the Illinois First Detector Workshops a success.

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Fall is Officially Here When the Stink Bugs Start to Appear

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=547

Over the past couple of weeks, I've received several reports of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (BMSB) being found in or near homes. It's a sure sign that the seasons are changing and these home invaders are searching for their winter vacation spots.

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Water Now to Help Prevent Winter Burn to Evergreen Trees and Shrubs

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=548

In the May 13th issue of the newsletter I wrote about winter burn, a form of winter injury that commonly affects broadleaved evergreens such as rhododendrons and boxwoods. This type of injury can also affect narrow leaved evergreens such as yew, arborvitae and hemlock. It is more severe on drought stressed plants. Last year's drought and dry start to the winter likely contributed to the symptoms of winter burn and even the death of many evergreens in our area.

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Index 2013

http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=549

An index to the pests and other topics addressed in the 2013 issues of the Home, Yard, and Garden Pest Newsletter is provided.

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First Detector Program Wrap Up

The 2012 First Detector Training Workshops are officially in the books. We received a tremendous amount of interest in this inaugural workshop series. Many of the workshops were filled to capacity and the enthusiasm at all seven events was terrific.

For those that might be unaware of this program, the first detector workshops this past winter focused on invasive tree pests. The goal was to provide in depth training sessions on emerging and current invasive insects, pathogens, and plants. Training in 2013 focused on emerald ash borer, thousand cankers disease, and three invasive plants – giant hogweed, Japanese stiltgrass, oriental bittersweet, mile a minute weed, princesstree, and Japanese chaff flower (depending on the location of the event). In addition to presentations by state experts covering identification, biology, hosts, sampling, management, look-a-likes, and regulation on each pest, participants also completed hands-on activities to put their new knowledge to work.

Statewide, 324 individuals completed first detector training in 2012. At each workshop, participants were asked to complete an evaluation form which consisted of a few questions to help us plan for future workshops as well as asking what their profession/interest was to help classify our audience. Participants were also asked to rate their degree of understanding of the presented material before and after training using a 1 to 5 scale (1= very little, 5 = a lot). About 70% of participants returned evaluation summaries.

Participants:

 

 

Degree of Understanding/Knowledge Gained:

Participants were asked to rate their degree of understanding of the presented material before and after training using a 1 to 5 scale (1 = very little, 5 = a lot)

 

 

Secondary Audience:

Participants were asked to indicate the number of people they encounter in regards to tree care. This number could be utilized to project how information learned during the first detector training might be disseminated and how many people this information may potentially reach.  

Based on the information provided, information gained during the First Detector Program, a secondary audience of as many as 51,950 people could be reached.

Needless to say, we are very excited about the future of this program. We are in the planning stages for the 2014 workshops. Stay tuned for updates about where they will be and what we will be covering. We look forward to seeing you there!