 Garlic mustard is a
cool-season biennial herb with stalked, triangular to
heart-shaped, coarsely toothed leaves that give off an odor of
garlic when crushed. First-year plants appear as a rosette of
green leaves close to the ground. Rosettes remain green through
the winter and develop into mature flowering plants the
following spring. Flowering plants of garlic mustard reach from
2 to 3 1/2 feet in height and produce buttonlike clusters of
small white flowers, each with four petals in the shape of a
cross. Control of garlic mustard is somewhat difficult. Seeds
can remain viable for at least five years in the soil. Small
amounts can be pulled up (including the roots). Garlic mustard
can regrow from root material. For herbicides, glyphosate
(Roundup) is the most often recommended. Remember, glyphosate
kills broadleaves and grasses it gets on. There has been some
success with 2,4-D LV400 where there aren't concerns with other
understory plants. Very large patches have been controlled with
fire, but that completely destroys the understory of timbers.
Remember to monitor areas for at least five years due to the
seed dormancy period.
Some action at this early time may help prevent larger
problems down the road. It is much easier to control small
patches than large ones.
Eastern tent caterpillar
Egg hatch may be running as much as three weeks later than
normal. Of course, with the crazy "spring" we've had, the
insects are probably somewhat disoriented as well.
After hatching, the caterpillars create a white, silken tent
in the branch crotches of crab apple, hawthorn, mountain ash,
flowering cherry, and other trees and shrubs in the rose family.
Eastern tent caterpillar is one of the earliest defoliators. The
feeding damage does not kill the tree, but it does use some of
the stored energy of the tree. To answer the eternal question
"What happens if I don't do anything?" I would simply respond
that forest trees are attacked every year, and they survive the
onslaught.
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Control at this time can be accomplished by removing the tents, and
the caterpillars inside, and taking them a long way from the tree to
dispose of. When caught early, the caterpillars tend to stay in the
nest. As they grow, they will not be in the nest as much. Control
with sprays such as Bt, acephate, permethrin and carbaryl will also
work.
Gardening calendar
The gardening calendar shows it is about time, from May 10 to May
25, to start in on our tender vegetables. This group includes green
beans, sweet corn and tomato plants. It is also time for successive
plantings of leaf lettuce, other greens, radishes and spinach. The
way the wind has blown, it is probably a good idea to provide some
protection for tender transplants for a week or two to let them get
established well.
On the Web
If you haven't checked out our site on the Web, give it a look.
The site address is
www.extension.uiuc.edu/logan. There is an abundance of
horticulture information, from local blogs to plant selectors. Most
of this is available from the horticulture and environment sections.
This is a good resource to answer questions you might have on many
topics. Other sections are available for youth, agriculture, health,
money management, "Just for Kids," "Just for Teachers," and others.
There are some great online learning activities for kids, just in
time for summer.
[By
JOHN FULTON,
University of Illinois Extension, Logan County]
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