Search Results

Blue spruce browning #650218

Asked June 21, 2020, 5:59 PM EDT

Hello 2 months ago my young blue spruce had on its needles many white armoured scale which I removed by hand.Later it's ilower branch inner needles got brown that are now appearing sporadically to upper branches as well a month after I sprayed with copper oxychloride. Also it appeared that the tree had spider mites since I have seen fine webbing covering the tree.Recently I observed big pests webbing looking like spiders of 1-2 cm in size which I doubt they are mites.I sprayed also some neem oil there so u can see my blue spruce does not look blue now but it will come back so this is not an issue.



Clear Creek County Colorado

Blue Spruce needle drop #636859

Asked May 22, 2020, 8:32 AM EDT

Hello, I have two large older blue spruce trees whose needles have started turning brown and dying. It has started in the middle of the trees and spread. One is almost bare in the middle and the other is rapidly turning brown all over. What could this be and how can I treat it as I do not want to lose the 100+ foot trees from in front of my home.



Clear Creek County Colorado

brown evergreens #630676

Asked May 08, 2020, 8:49 AM EDT

I have some different kinds of evergreens turning brown in the fall from the bottom up and then in the spring they come back green. It started with just one now it is turning into three of them. right now the tops of them are green but the bottoms are still brown. Please help I have a lot of evergreens and sure don't want to lose any of them Thank you.

Grant County Kentucky

Arborvitae toxicity #629503

Asked May 01, 2020, 12:42 PM EDT

I planted some arborvitaes along my property line against a neighbors driveway. They have horses in the field across the driveway so the trees and the animals are not necessarily close. However my neighbor is worried that if her horses escape the fence they may find the arborvitaes and she claims they are toxic for her animals. I would like to be neighborly and move them or fence them off, however I would like to confirm how toxic they are to horses so I can determine what level of mitigation is required. Thanks, Stephen.

Howard County Maryland

Moss in grass in Colorado; mulch vs compost to retain soil; discarding pine needles and branches #622490

Asked April 10, 2020, 10:12 AM EDT


Dear Ag extension.
I have a lot of questions = let me know if I should put them in separate emails!


1. Moss in grass in Colorado! We have a section of lawn north of our house and frequently shaded by the house that has moss in the grass. I thought moss was unusual in the dry Colorado air, but the patches cover a roughly 8x9ft section, and the lawn is developing patches of dry earth between the grass as well. I would like to take out the lawn and plant native Colorado plants or perennials that do well in Colorado, but wanted to get your take on what would do well in such conditions, and how to go about converting the area from patches of dead grass to perennials.  
2. Could you advise on using mulch vs compost to retain soil moisture in Colorado? I am tired of maintaining wood chip mulch, which -I think and correct me if I am wrong - needs to be removed to add any soil amendments and then put back. I had read that you might as well use a compost that would do double duty for moisture retention and a soil aid, and wanted your take on whether or not that would be a good idea, and what you advise for mulching around irises, or a bed with a combination of perennial shasta daisies, catmint and bulbs.
3. Soil recovery after 10 years of landscaping fabric/black plastic. The prior homeowners installed black plastic when planting pine trees around 2002-2004. I hate black plastic and we are now removing it and the trees are mature. The plastic is now buried under almost a foot of pine needles in places and black soil rich with earthworms, with a solid layer of clay below where the plastic was. A small number of surface roots are above the black plastic. How can we accelerate the rejuvenation of the soil now that the plastic is gone? We would like to plant shade tolerant ground cover below the trees where light is patchy. Should we turn the soil to combine the top layer with the clay? Should we just leave it?
4. Best way to discarding pine needles and branches? From the above pine trees on our property (blue spruce, ponderosa, and several long needle varieties) we have dense layers of pine needles. We cleaned the surface of the pine needles to reduce potential fire hazard, in the part of our yard that we have a grill, but there are 5-15 years of needles built up, which are turning into a nice humus layer. Could you advise on how much to remove to avoid a fire hazard but keep the nice humus layer, and what do we do with the pine needles? We have read that they shouldn't be composted so we are currently putting them in the trash, which seems ecologically like a bad idea. What are our alternatives for reducing fire hazard of pine needles waste? We have heard of using the dry long pine needles as mulch in other areas, but want your advice. Thanks! 


Thanks for everything that you do! I understand you are volunteers and appreciate your time!
Best
Jeannie





Arapahoe County Colorado

Coggins #605160

Asked November 04, 2019, 10:15 AM EST

Who can you can you contact in MD to report a person who advertised and sold a horse to us with no current coggins  or routine shots?

Virginia Beach County Virginia

Spruce tree has a few yellow needles #603839

Asked October 24, 2019, 4:51 PM EDT

We have 7 evergreens in our back yard.  Our two green spruces are starting to develop a few yellow needles.  They were planted 3 years old.  I root water about every 3 to 4 months.  Should we be concerned?  Is there something we should do (have a tree service come fertilize).  Or is this normal.

Douglas County Colorado

Plant Questions #601559

Asked October 15, 2019, 1:46 PM EDT

Good afternoon. I have having a difficult time finding information on evergreen plants that can thrive in Eastern Oregon as a hedge along a fence line that are NOT toxic to horses (multiple neighbors have horses and though we will be planting on our property, we'd like to be respectful to our neighbors and their interests). We are in the zone 7 growing area by most accounts. I've ruled out most of the typical evergreen hedge plants due to being poisonous to horses. Other than arborvitae, are you aware of evergreen plants that would be appropriate in our situation? I've read conflicting information on euonymus species, viburnum and junipers. It appears abelia, snow brush and wax myrtles may work and don't appear to be poisonous to horses. Any information would greatly be appreciated.

Umatilla County Oregon

Weeds in pasture #597100

Asked September 26, 2019, 3:41 PM EDT

We have a small pasture - about 1.5 acres. Three horses: aged Arabian mare, very dainty; older retired QH mare and an 8 yr. old, lame QH mare- very robust at 1,100 #. Hay is the main food. We buy good hay from the same person who supplies ISU's horse barn. The pasture is an amenity for the old horses to stretch, sleep and graze a little. We have no tractor. We hire a mower twice a year. We hand dig chickory, ragweed, and annual asters. Since roadside mowing is now minimized, Yellow and Green Foxtail that grows lavishly in the neighbor's hay field now covers the highway ROW and on his unmanaged land. The Foxtail is now in our pasture. I've spot sprayed with Grassout. Instead of killing the foxtail, it acted like a Plant Growth Regulator and caused early seed set on 3" high stems. I would still like to keep the pasture open for the horses to use. When we are in drought conditions, we do not allow any access. Frankly, the horses prefer to stay in their barn, on the rubber mats, under the cross breeze of the two large fans as they eat Wade Feurings great hay. Now that the white sweet clover, red clover other grasses (timothy, brome, fescues, annual rye and some Big Bluestem and Side Oats from the prairie are growing post-rainfall, we allow horses to access the pasture for about 2 hours a day. Is there a better method for controlling Foxtail? Must we kill every area where it exists with glyphosate? We also find that having our other neighbor apply the very well composted manure holds soil moisture, and helps the grasses flourish. We are wondering if we have a very deep layer of compost placed over the now very short plant growth regulator impacted Foxtail will suppress/smoother it? We can then just plant a mix of pasture grasses and prairie seed right into the compost. What is the earliest time that I could have the compost put on the pasture? We usually wait until November, but ... if we could get the Foxtail covered, I could sow seeds now and they would have a good start. I'd also like to top dress some of the other areas with compost. In times of unstable weather, having that compost is even more critical than ever. The horses are well-loved by us, but are also visited by two Hospice Nurses who just enjoy brushing them; local kids who have parents in the military and ... some of my students who experience home sickness and need some pet therapy. Many people believe that dogs are the natural empathic experts. Horses are also very astute in identifying which people need attention. We are getting rather old to keep up this regime, but... it makes it worthwhile because on the grander scheme of community - many people benefit from these good, big friends. Thanks, Danielle Wirth

Boone County Iowa

Senior with cushings #587900

Asked August 14, 2019, 1:20 AM EDT

I have a 28 year old OTTB. When I took possession of him 2 years ago he weighed less than 600lbs. He now weighs 985 and is cushings positive. I am feeding him Nutrena safe choice Senior and Nutrena safe choice Special care plus alfalfa pellets soaked. He is pasture board with a run in, I do work him in a round pen about 3 times a week for about 10 min each time and I ride him bare back 4 times a week for about 15 min. He doesn’t eat hay he rolls it and spits it out he does the same with grass. He currently eats 9 lbs of grain and 10 to 12 lbs of alfalfa pellets daily. He is on Prescend for his cushings. My question is would he benefit from a hay stretcher?  I am concerned that he’s not getting enough forage. I was considering reducing his alfalfa and adding hay stretcher. Just not sure what to do. Any suggestions or help will be very much appreciated. Thank you



Virginia Beach County Virginia