Maureen Wise

The Viburnum Leaf Beetle (VLB), native to Europe, was first found in North America in 1947, in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada. In 1996, it was discovered in New York State in Northern Cayuga County. The Viburnum Leaf Beetle has continued to spread south and west through New York into Pennsylvania, and in 2002, was discovered in Ashtabula County, Ohio where it appeared to have been established for at least two years, based on egg scars.

Veronica, also called Speedwell or Birds Eye, is a member of the largest genus in the flowering plant family that grows mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. Veronica is both a weed and a cultivated plant. There are two distinct varieties of Veronica: the short groundcover described above and a tall plant that grows in clusters with tall spikes of flowers. The groundcover variety can easily become a lawn weed.

Let’s first define what a tree lawn is, as this is not the only term people use for this space, especially in Ohio! Those in the Akron area frequently call the grassy area between the sidewalk and the road, a “devil’s strip.” Others say it’s the road berm, curb strip, a snow shelf, the curb lawn, the nature strip, a city easement, parking strip, planting strip, the parkway, an extension lawn, or the sidewalk buffer.

The term Thistle is used for a variety of wildflowers and weeds, mostly part of the sunflower family. Generally, Thistle leaves have sharp prickles along the edges of their leaves and along their stems to act as a defense against grazing wildlife. All varieties produce flowers, usually purple or yellow, and spread through seed. In the Fall, the flowers frequently produce puffy, white fluff attached to the seeds to ride the wind and spread seeds farther. Some varieties do al...

Cucumbers are a vegetable of choice for many Midwestern gardeners. They are relatively easy to grow and cucumbers are a family favorite, eaten on their own with just a few seasonings, in salads, or preserved by pickling.
However, if you are a cucumber gardener and your plants aren’t thriving, it’s likely you have a beetle problem. Cucumber beetles are hard to get rid of, but there are many organic methods to stop the destruction they inflict on your crop.
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The leftover food scraps generated from preparing meals is a constant waste in just about every home. Prepared food leftovers also create waste when not eaten. A recent study from Penn State shows that an average family wastes about 30% of their food.

What Is Volcano Mulching?

Volcano Mulching, also known as Over Mulching, is the improper mulching technique that piles mulch high around the tree against the tree trunk. This excess mulch can promote surface roots that ultimately end up strangling and killing the tree. Additionally, it can cause too much moisture retention during the wet seasons, promoting fungus, rot, and pests. In the dry seasons, the mulch can completely dry out and repel water, not allowing water to get to the roots of th...

What Is Zoysia Grass?
Zoysia Grass is a warm season grass that was refined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA) in the 1950s. It is a grass cultivar that is thick, drought-resistant and loves heat. In our Midwestern climate, it turns brown in the Fall and Winter. It doesn’t need a lot of water to stay green in the Summer, so less sprinkling and irrigation is needed. It also doesn’t need as much mowing because this grass cultivar is slow growing...

What Are Wild Violets?

Wild Violets are perennial flowers with predictably dark purple flowers that bloom in the Spring. The flower color can vary from white or very light purple to blue-ish purple to dark purple. They have low-growing, waxy, dark green, heart-shaped leaves. The leaves form a cone and do not lose their color in the Fall or Winter. Their flowers attract pollinators in Spring and Summer. They grow in USDA Hardiness Zones (3-9), in the eastern part of the United States.

Mushrooms often invade our lawns in Autumn after a rain. They can appear very suddenly, even overnight. And frequently, en masse.

When invaded like this, you may feel a bit better knowing what kind of mushrooms are visiting your kingdom. Download iNaturalist or the Book of Mushrooms apps to try to identify your mushrooms. Even if do you ID them, do not eat them. Most mushrooms, while not totally poisonous, are going to give you a bad stomach ache and will not make you see psychedelic flowers....

What Are Mushrooms?
Mushrooms found in your lawn look a lot like those on your plate. They often have short, wide caps and a narrow stem, but there are many varieties. The job of all mushrooms is to help decompose rotting material. They thrive in moist, shady areas and grow most commonly in the Midwest in the Fall. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi in the soil. Typically mushrooms are a result of some kind of decomposing wood in the soil, often old or dead tree roots.

Summer is here and it’s time to spend time outside on the lawn! A soft, green grassy area is the perfect spot to play cornhole, read a book, wrestle with the dog, or play tag with the kids. You’ve worked hard to make sure your lawn is healthy and comfortable. But what happens if you suddenly have an irregular dead patch of grass the color of straw? You may have a bout of Ascochyta Leaf Blight. This fungus can come on quickly! We have some tips to help you control Ascochyta Leaf Blight if you ...

Climate change is an important global issue that touches all of us. In Ohio, we are seeing warmer winters and stronger storms. Throughout the world, there are melting ice caps and wildfires. NASA itself has a whole division devoted to studying climate change and explaining it to the masses. (Check out their content for some solid science and educational tools!) Authorities tell us that in order to turn this problem around, the human race needs to both reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and d...

Pollination is a pretty basic, yet massively important, concept that we all learned about in elementary school. It’s the birds and bees of making food that uses birds and bees! By not using pesticides and by adding specific plants and features to your yard, you are creating pollinator habitat. Inviting pollinators into your backyard can actually help the world’s food production!

You read that right, flowers can hear. If hearing means responding to sound and vibration, that is. As reported in National Geographic, research conducted at Tel Aviv University last year concluded that flowers definitely respond to nearby vibrations.