Tennessee Greentimes - Fall 2011

Section Name 3 VOL. 12/NO.

Fall 2011

IPM in Practice:

Mid-South Nursery Growers Share Their Insights

Japanese Maple Scale, a New Insect Pest in TN’s Nurseries and Landscapes The UT Gardens Join with HGTV in a New Partnership tennessee greentimes

fall 2011

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Table of Contents

IN THE NURSERY IPM in Practice: Mid-South Growers Share Their Insights

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VOL. 12/NO. 3

Fall 2011

PESTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT Japanese Maple Scale, a New Insect Pest in TN’s Nurseries and Landscapes

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DEPARTMENTS From the President, John Watson.....................................................................................6 Thanks to Our Membership Sponsors..............................................................................6 TNLA New Members..........................................................................................................7 Industry News......................................................................................................................8 Calendar of Events............................................................................................................22 Index of Advertisers..........................................................................................................22

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NEWS FROM UT GARDENS The UT Gardens Join with HGTV in a New Partnership

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The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association serves its members in the industry through education, promotion and representation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, Tennessee Green Times, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright Š2011 by the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association. Tennessee Green Times is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association Third-class postage is paid at Nashville, TN. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: Tennessee Green Times allows reprinting of material. Permission requests should be directed to the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association.

We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs.

Contact the managing editor for contribution information. Advertising: For display and classified advertising rates and insertions, please contact Leading Edge Communications, LLC, 206 Bridge Street, Franklin, TN 37064, (615) 790-3718, Fax (615) 794-4524.

From the President John Watson, CLP

The Circle

that Binds Us All

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hile trying to think of a topic for this “From the President” letter, I asked Louree Walker (TNLA’s executive director) for a topic. Since this is the fall issue, she suggested maybe something about planting and maintenance. This started me thinking about how similar our members’ lives really are.

Both growers and landscapers plant, but they also both grow. During our visits together, we all talk about the weather, the latest government action, the plants we really like and why, etc. However, it all circles back to the plants. With inputs from each of us, the ultimate end is that the consumer gets a wonderful landscape to enjoy and one that hopefully adds value to their properties.

As we move into the “Fall Is for Planting” season, I’m reminded that this is the first step in the circle, with our ultimate goal to make people’s lives better. We are all in this circle together.

I would also like to ask everyone that, as you meet others in the green industry (such as irrigators, landscape architects, turfgrass managers and greenhouse operators), please invite them to join our circle. They could join TNLA individually or as a group through their own associations. A larger circle means a louder voice and the more strength we have.

By joining and becoming active in TNLA, we can achieve our shared goal and enlarge the circle.

TNLA Would like to

Thank

the following companies for being

Membership Sponsors Gold Membership Sponsors

John Watson, CLP

Barky Beaver Mulch & Soil Mix, Inc.

2011 TNLA President

Common Grounds Landscape Management, Inc.

Mid-States Horticultural Expo

Randall Walker Farms

January 27–28, 2012

Swafford Nursery, Inc.

TNLA Winter Education & Exhibits February 20–21, 2012

Silver Membership Sponsors Allen Landscape Management, LLC Dow AgroSciences, LLC Freedom Tree Farms, LLC Oldcastle Adams Products – Belgard Packs Nursery Reedy Landscaping, Inc.

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The Tennessee Greentimes is the official publication of The Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. 115 Lyon Street McMinnville, Tennessee 37110 (931) 473-3951 Fax (931) 473-5883 www.tnla.com Email: mail@tnla.com Published by Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, Tennessee 37064 (615) 790-3718 Fax (615) 794-4524 Email: info@leadingedge communications.com Editors Dr. Bill Klingeman Dr. Amy Fulcher Associate Editors Dr. Donna Fare Dr. Nick Gawel Mr. Mark Halcomb Dr. Frank Hale Mr. Gray Haun Dr. Sandy Reed Dr. John Sorochan

Welcome,

TNLA New Members!

ACTIVE MEMBERS

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Caylor Landscaping Patrick Caylor 3572 Pineview Road Maryville, TN 37803

Ben Lomand Connect Competitive Services Dept.

311 N. Chancery Street McMinnville, TN 37110

David’s Nursery David Woodlee 338 Hills Creek Road McMinnville, TN 37110

Classen Turf Care Direct Stephen LePera 1028 Street Road Southampton, PA 18966

Horti-Care Gerald Horner 1203 White Rock Road Spring Hill, TN 37174 Landscape Solutions of Knoxville, LLC Darren Lloyd P.O. Box 22532 Knoxville, TN 37772

TNLA Officers President John Watson, CLP Common Grounds Landscape Mgmt.

Outdoor Creations, LLC Stephen Horn 965 Poplar Leaf Road Collierville, TN 38017

1st Vice President Michael Kassees Forest Nursery Co., Inc.

Tupper Tree Farm Erwin Tupper 89 Grove Road Morrison, TN 37357

2nd Vice President Bill Seaton TruGreen LandCare 3rd Vice President Matt Dawson Natural Creations, LLC

Dillman Farm, Inc. Cary Dillman 4955 West State Road 45 Bloomington, IN 47403 Everris Keith Guthrie 2030 Wenlok Trail Marietta, GA 30066 Halo Branded Solutions Larry Lusky 1437 Donelson Pike Nashville, TN 37217 Homeland Community Bank Cindy Rogers 900 North Chancery Street McMinnville, TN 37110

Landscape Support Services Scott McGaughy 7822 Manchester Pike Murfreesboro, TN 37127 Ohio Mulch Supply, Inc. Tim Hart 1600 Universal Road Columbus, OH 43207 R.A. Dudley Nurseries, Inc. Bennett Dudley P.O. Box 429 Thomson, GA 30824 Sturgill Tree Farms Charles Sturgill 1344 NC Hwy. 88 West West Jefferson, NC 28694 The Mail Center Joe Killebrew 1110 Sparta Street McMinnville, TN 37110

AFFILIATE MEMBERS Dr. Douglas Airhart Tennessee Tech School of Agriculture P.O. Box 5034 Cookeville, TN 38505

Secretary-Treasurer Randall Walker Randall Walker Farms Associate Director Mary (Strong) Pennington Landscape Support Services Ex-Officio Tim Gallagher Heather Farms Nursery, Inc. Executive Director Louree Walker Administrative Assistant Pam Stern

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Industry News

EPA Issues Restrictions on Imprelis…

Grass clippings and trees injured by Imprelis should not be used for composting or mulching.

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mprelis, an herbicide sold by DuPont to licensed lawncare professionals, is used on residential, industrial and institutional lawns and on golf courses. Imprelis may cause injury to certain species of trees, specifically the Norway spruce and white pine. Clippings from grass that has been treated with Imprelis may be a significant cause of injury to these evergreens and other plants and, therefore, should not be used for composting, and trees that may have been injured from Imprelis should not be used for compost or mulch.

The active ingredient in Imprelis is aminocyclopyrachlor. This active ingredient is related to other herbicides, including clopyralid and

aminopyralid, that have caused plant damage when present in compost or manure as a result of their use on turf and/or pasture grasses. Aminocyclopyrachlor shares certain characteristics with these herbicides — including persistence in soil and plant material, systemic nature in plants and high seedling-emergence toxicity — that are thought to have contributed to carryover in compost/manure and subsequent plant damage.

Aware of the potential for aminocyclopyrachlor to cause similar problems, the EPA required labeling restrictions to mitigate the risk of plant damage from aminocyclopyrachlor-contaminated compost.

These restrictions prohibit the use of

grass clippings from treated areas in compost or mulch, and they require commercial applicators, such as lawncare company personnel, to notify homeowners not to use treated grass clippings in mulch or compost. C At time of going to press with this issue of Tennessee GreenTimes, DuPont has issued a suspension of use and sale for Imprelis Herbicide.

If you have immediate concerns or questions, contact DuPont’s customer service center at (800) 342-5247 (prompt #99). You may also like to see the article from Reuters, dated Aug. 11, 2011 at http://www.reuters. com/article/2011/08/11/us-dupontimprelis-idUSTRE77A4VS20110811.

Ten New Master of Landscape Architecture Professionals Represent UTs First Graduating Class

By Andrew Carr, The University of Tennessee

In

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2007, The University of Tennessee launched a new Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) program and welcomed its Fall 2008 inaugural class of ten students representing three states (Tennessee, North Carolina and West Virginia) and three countries (United States, Indonesia and China). The cross-disciplinary program is jointly offered by the College of Architecture + Design and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

The MLA program offers three degrees: Master of Landscape Architecture professional degree, Master of Arts in Landscape Architecture and Master of Science in Landscape Architecture. For more information on degrees and curricular paths offered, visit UT’s landscape architecture website at www.arch.utk.edu.

Accreditation for the program is expected soon, with the graduation of the first class of 10 students this past spring (2011). These students have completed three years of challenging academic coursework designed to prepare them as future leaders in the landscape industry and the broader community. Their experience was capped by a thesis project that allowed them to explore areas of professional interest by applying their skills as landscape architects.

Thesis topics included strip-mine reclamation, greenways, healthy communities, stormwater management, conservation development and cultural landscapes. C At left is an illustration that was part of 2011 MLA graduate Nathan Oliver’s thesis presentation, “Planning Growth — Preserving Character” for Parksville, a community in southeast Tennessee.

TNLA Past President

Don Shadow Wins HILA Awards

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NLA Past President and Hall of Fame member Don Shadow was recognized this past July at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio, with two HILA (Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards) honors presented by the GIE Horticultural Group. First, he was named the winner of the Leadership Award for the state of Tennessee (one winner for each state was chosen). He also received the Industry Development Award. The announcement write-up mentioned the following: Don Shadow (owner of Shadow Nursery in Winchester, TN) has traveled throughout the United States and many parts of the world, acquiring plants that have become an important part of horticulture throughout many areas of the country. He focuses on species and cultivars that he describes as “new and useful.� C

In the Nursery

IPM in Practice: Mid-South Nursery Growers Share Their Insights

By A.F. Fulcher, W.E. Klingeman, A.V. LeBude, S. White, M. Chappell, S. Frank, and J. Neal

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ager to know how your peer growers are using integrated pest management (IPM) to manage production pests? The Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management (SNIPM) team received feedback from more than 120 growers in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. These industry professionals shared their experiences with scouting for pests and monitoring pest populations, the practices they have adopted for pest prevention, and the actions they take to control pests at their operations. With each question, growers answered whether they used the practice “Always,” “Often,” “Rarely” or “Never.”

Here is our summary of what we learned about 10 key IPM practices.

10. Acknowledging general IPM use at grower’s nurseries.

When growers were asked how frequently IPM practices were used at their respective nurseries, 16% said “Always,” and 64% thought “Often.”

Only about 20% of growers stated they “Rarely” used IPM to produce the plants that generate their businesses’ profits.

IPM offers advantages of a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural and chemical tools to minimize economic, health and environmental risks. To function efficiently, IPM requires dedication to scouting for, identifying and monitoring pest populations.

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The best IPM practitioners continually educate themselves about emerging pests, new tools and chemical options, and then they adapt these methods to suit their nursery operations. After selecting the best options available for control, growers should follow up to evaluate their management action’s effectiveness.

9. Using sticky cards,

ethanol traps and lures.

Traps and lures, including sticky tape for scale-crawler monitoring (Photo 1), are quick and easy to use by relatively untrained employees.

Only about 18% of growers, however, reported using these inexpensive monitoring tools.

Whether these monitoring tools are used individually or in combination, these passive pest-collection techniques help pinpoint adult pest emergence and pest-population levels in and around production areas. Once deployed, trap counts can help growers schedule management actions, including pesticide sprays.

Nursery growers who have integrated traps into their scouting plans are often impressed with the sitespecific emergence information they can collect about economically important pest species. As an example, granulate (Asian) ambrosia beetles are readily attracted to ethanol traps, and they fly surprisingly early each season — typically following the first few consecutive spring days with air temperatures around 70°F. Spray programs timed to target adults at first

emergence have successfully controlled this pest.

8. Applying bioprotectants.

Bioprotectants are naturally occurring organisms or compounds that enhance a plant’s ability to defend itself against plant diseases. Although these relatively new IPM options can help prevent the presence and spread of pathogens in nurseries, they were used by just 12% of surveyed growers.

Bioprotectants provide various modes of action and can be applied as granules, soil drenches and sprays, so they fit well within a chemicalrotation plan. Several bioprotectants are commercially available for use in nurseries. Regalia SC™ (formally Milsana™, a plant extract of giant knotweed, Reynoutria sachalinensis) is a formulated fungicide that stimulates natural plant-defense mechanisms and enhances fungal and bacterial disease resistance in treated plants. Regalia SC effectively manages powdery mildew and rust diseases on woody ornamental plants like Lagerstroemia and Rosa, and even more work has been conducted with annual plants. The Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4, website http://ir4.rutgers.edu/) also indicates ongoing tests to evaluate Regalia SC efficacy against Phytophthora on ornamental plants.

Serenade MAX™ is a formulated a strain of Bacillus subtilis that acts to prevent a broad spectrum of plant diseases. Serenade MAX controls or suppresses plant dis-

eases including leaf-spot-forming fungi (like Alternaria spp., Cercospora spp., Entomosporium spp., Helminthsporium spp., Myrothecium spp. and Septoria spp.), as well as Phytophthora spp. and anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp.) diseases.

Finally, Actino-Iron (Streptomyces lydicus) is a biological fungicide (www.naturalindustries.com/ai. factsheet.pdf) that colonizes the root systems of treated ornamental plants and helps suppress Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Phytophthora and Verticillium diseases in ornamental plants by various means, including exclusion of pathogens altogether and production of pathogen-destroying enzymes, and by helping plants absorb mineral nutrients from the surrounding substrate.

While these products may be too costly to use throughout the entire nursery, proactive growers may benefit by selectively treating valuable plants that are most susceptible to soil pathogens, including Rhododendron, Viburnum, Pieris and Camellia.

7. Conducting quarantines

Photo 1.

Scale crawlers on sticky tape.

Photo 2. Scouting for insects and pests.

and temporary isolation of incoming nursery stock.

Although 90% of growers inspect their plants and liner purchases for pests when delivered, only 26% of growers provide a designated area to quarantine or isolate incoming nursery stock.

Simply isolating incoming stock for two to four weeks, even when stock comes from a well-known grower, reduces the risk that undetected plant diseases and insect pests will spread to other nursery plants.

When a period of isolation cannot be set aside due to production scheduling, growers should closely inspect plant canopies, stems and roots, both upon receipt and again two to four weeks into the production cycle, to be sure that visual signs and symptoms of diseases and insects remain absent.

6. Mapping seasonal weeds.

Mapping key weed infestations and recording seasonal seed-set information helps growers prioritize control activities and reduces herbicide use.

Yet, only 8% of growers create or use weed maps to track weed spread in their nurseries.

Seasonal weed mapping provides growers a way to identify problem weeds in conspicuous places throughout the nursery and to better determine the point of weed origin and potential localized hot spots. For example, weeds with wind-dispersed seeds growing along a border road or wooded area upwind of a potting area can become the source for weeds in containers that will be distributed throughout the nursery.

5. Setting up irrigation

zones for plant groups with similar water needs.

More than 90% of growers reported that they group plants with similar water needs in order to limit excess water application during irrigation.

4. Adopting a

standardized sampling plan when scouting for pests and diseases.

Growers who reported scouting for pests (Photo 2) acknowledged that they most often recognize plant damage to a large block of plants while potting, fertilizing or preparing to ship nursery stock. At this point, however, it may be too late to salvage a damaged crop in time for seasonal sales.

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In the Nursery

A

B

C

Figure 1. The (A) rigid-block, (B) random-walk and (C) hotspot scouting diagrams used during integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

Instead, the most efficient growers set aside a specific time, and even a dedicated employee, to scout nursery stock at weekly or biweekly intervals throughout the production cycle.

Growers can eliminate wasted effort by adopting one of three simple

scouting plans: rigid-block, randomwalk or hotspot scouting (Figure 1).

The rigid-block method allows growers to inspect almost every plant in the block, while the random-walk procedure bisects the planting area and gives a cursory scout of about half

Photo 3. A twice-stabbed lady beetle adult (a beneficial insect predator).

the block and a fine inspection of the other half. Hotspot scouting is best for areas that have been seasonal trouble spots — for example, stressed trees on the southwest edge of blocks that receive heavy wind.

Growers may also benefit by coordinating knowledge of seasonal pest emergence with indicators of flowering-plant phenology at their nurseries.

With a little experience, recognizing these patterns at your nursery can be used to trigger scouting for key pests in following years. About 40% of growers surveyed use this method.

About 21% of the IPM-savvy growers we surveyed have adopted even more precise pest-populationmodeling tools by integrating nursery weather stations to help calculate growing degree days (GDD) to determine when to begin scouting for a specific pest and how that pest’s life stage is progressing based on the weather. Because small differences in weather-station locations (e.g., offsite stations) can cause substantial variation in GDD accumulations, nurseries should ideally record sitespecific weather information with their own on-site weather stations.

3. Developing a working knowledge of key pests and plant diseases.

A successful IPM program depends on correctly identifying the problems found during scouting. Growers we

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surveyed believed that they would be able to correctly identify the pests (87% of growers) and plant diseases (84% of growers) they encountered.

Once an arthropod or plant disease is correctly identified, growers can determine if the life stage found is susceptible to management action.

Accurate disease identification will reveal if the pathogen is actually causing the problem (primary) or seizing the opportunity to colonize an already stressed or dying plant host (secondary).

Just as important, beneficial insect predators and natural enemies (Photo 3) are often found on damaged crop plants, actively feeding on crop pests.

In fact, only 30% of growers determined during scouting if natural enemies are active within their nurseries.

If you are interested in identifying beneficial insects, including parasitoids, visit www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/ biocontrol/index.php for pictures of many different beneficial arthropods and information about their contributions to pest biocontrol.

2. Taking pictures

and creating a permanent record of nursery-specific scouting knowledge.

Photographs of the insects that attack your nursery inventory, as well as plant diseases that cause crop losses, are powerful seasonal reminders.

Permanent records of pest-scouting activity quickly illustrate the key patterns of pest behavior and seasonal hotspots that occur in nearly every nursery. Yet only 24% of growers took photos of the disease and injury symptoms caused by pests and plant diseases, and just 33% kept permanent records of nurseryscouting activities and management actions.

By being your own crop monitor, or by employing a dedicated pest-anddisease scout, growers invest significant money toward the costs of labor to monitoring crops. Each time a

In the Nursery

trained employee quits, retires or shifts to a different job responsibility, however, that nursery-specific knowledge is lost, and training costs must be re-expended. Photos and records from previous problems are invaluable — and cost-effective — teaching tools for future employees.

1. Sending it out, when in doubt.

Growers who take advantage of plantdiagnostic clinics were much more likely to have adopted other IPM practices, compared to growers who sent in fewer samples. Some growers send up to 30 samples per year.

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Correct pest and disease identification is the cornerstone for efficient and effective IPM, and it helps growers choose the best management option to save on labor and input costs, while decreasing plant damage and harm to the environment — actions that keep our green industry truly “green.”

Want to Know More?

A 2009 grant from the Southern Region IPM Center allowed the Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management (SNIPM) working group to work with growers, researchers and extension specialists to

develop a pest-management strategic plan (PMSP) and a crop profile (CP) for field- and container-grown nursery stock (for details and information about the meeting participants, see “Pest Management for Nursery Crops” in the Spring 2010 issue of Tennessee GreenTimes). Reports from this working group can be freely accessed and downloaded. Just visit www.sripmc.org, and click the “Research in IPM” tab.

This article is reprinted with permission, following its original publication in the May 2011 issue of Nursery Management magazine, www. nurserymanagementonline.com. C

Pests in the Spotlight

On the Lookout for Japanese Maple Scale, a New Insect Pest in Tennessee’s Nurseries and Landscapes

By Amy Fulcher, Frank Hale and Mark Halcomb, The University of Tennessee

If

you thought you had a handle on pests this season, think again… or, rather, look again.

A relatively new pest has been identified in Tennessee and a few other states, and it is proving to be a tough pest to both detect and control.

The pest is Japanese maple scale (Lopholeucaspis japonica Cockerell), and unfortunately, it makes its home on more than Japanese maples. Its small size and ability to blend in with natural variations in bark coloration

Photo 1. Small, oystershell-shaped Japanese maple scale on holly.

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make it a tough scale to detect until populations are high and the scale has spread to large areas of the nursery.

Some nurseries’ shipments have been rejected because of this pest. Fall and winter are good times to scout deciduous nursery crops for Japanese maple scales (JMS) on twigs and branches.

Appearance

Japanese maple scales are small, oystershell-shaped, armored insects (Photo 1). The waxy coating over the

body is white, but the female, eggs and crawlers are lavender in color (Photos 2 and 3). Scales are most commonly found on bark, but they can also be found on leaves (in particular, the leaves of infested magnolias).

Beware of confusing JMS with white peach scale Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Photo 4). Adult female white peach scales have a distinctive “fried egg” appearance, and clusters of males give bark a fluffy appearance.

Photo 2. Japanese maple scale eggs, beneath an adult female.

Lifecycle

The lifecycle of JMS isn’t completely understood, and some variation in timing across Tennessee is likely. The insect overwinters on the trunks and branches of plants as small but visible immature males and females that mature in the spring.

JMS has two generations a year in states with a climate similar to Tennessee’s. Females lay about 25 eggs under their body. Eggs are estimated to develop in April and May, with crawler hatch likely to occur in midMay in Middle Tennessee. In other areas, crawler hatch coincides with the bloom of Syringa reticulata ‘Ivory Silk’ and Hydrangea quercifolia oakleaf hydrangea. A second generation is likely, with egg hatch estimated to begin in Tennessee around August 1.

JMS has an extended crawler hatch, which causes the first and second generations to overlap.

Host plants and range

JMS has an extremely wide host range, including Acer, Amelanchier, Camellia, Carpinus, Cercis, Cladrastis, Cornus, Cotoneaster, Euonymus, Fraxinus, Gledistia, Ilex, Itea, Ligustrum, Magnolia, Malus, Prunus, Pyracantha, Pyrus, Salix, Stewartia, Styrax, Syringa, Tilia, Ulmus, Zelkova and others. JMS is a serious pest of orchard and ornamental crops in the

former Soviet Union, and the pest is thought to have come to the U.S. from Asia. Samples have been positively identified from TN and KY, as well as from large areas along the East Coast, including CT, DC, DE, GA, MD, NJ, PA, RI and VA.

Feeding and Damage

JMS do not feed on the phloem (plant vascular tissue) like soft-scale insects do. Instead, they feed directly on plant storage cells, which causes cells to rupture and collapse. Damage is often not as severe as with other scale, but populations can build to extreme levels (Photo 5, page 18), and branch dieback and plant death have been reported. The loss of sellable plants and rejected shipments appear to be this pest’s greatest threat to the US nursery industry.

Scouting

JMS can be difficult to detect. The small, white adults are difficult to see, often blending in with lightcolored bark or lenticels, especially when infestation levels are low. On shrubs and multi-stem trees, focus your initial scouting at the base of the plant from the soil line to approximately 8 inches above the soil line.

On standard form trees, look on the trunk and scaffold branches, particularly at the branch collar.

Photo 3. Japanese maple scale crawler.

JMS are easier to see in the dormant season when foliage is not hindering the view and when the waxy coating appears brighter. JMS are often in the protected interior of dense plants. During the growing season and on evergreen hosts such as China Girl holly, pull outer branches aside to expose the interior stems.

To monitor for egg development or crawler hatch, a dissecting scope is often necessary; most hand lens do not offer enough magnification to readily detect eggs or crawlers. However, a small sticky trap can be made by wrapping a JMS-infested twig with double-sided clear tape or by coating regular clear, tan or white tape with a very thin layer of petroleum jelly.

Use flagging tape to mark the branch, and check the sticky traps for the purple crawlers a couple of times a week, using a hand lens.

Start monitoring the sticky traps a week prior to when emergence is expected in the spring and summer. Be sure to secure the edge of the tape to the bark so that crawlers cannot crawl under the tape. Focus your scouting efforts at the edge of the tape.

Control

JMS is especially difficult to control in China Girl hollies and other plants that are heavily sheared, with dense

Photo 4. White peach scale can resemble Japanese maple scale. White peach scale is characterized by a “fried egg” appearance of individual adult females and a fluffy appearance created by a dense infestation of males.

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Pests in the Spotlight

canopies. A contact-insecticide spray must effectively penetrate the canopy to provide the high level of coverage needed for control. Numerous factors affect achieving good coverage, including plant species, height, shape, density, age, number of plant rows between alleyways, in-row spacing, pruning, planting pattern, fertilization, weed competition and irrigation and natural rainfall. Use water-sensitive paper to verify adequate spray penetration and coverage on a range of plants infested with JMS (Photo 6).

Thorough applications of horticultural or superior oil during the dormant period in late winter are an important component of achieving control. Additionally, insecticide sprays should be used to target each flush of crawlers during the spring and summer. Recommended insec-

ticides include the insect growth regulators pyriproxyfen (Distance) or buprofezin (Talus 40SC) and the neonicotinoid clothianidin (Arena 50 WDG). Additionally, 0.5% to 1% horticultural oil can be tank-mixed with Distance or Talus 40SC for improved control.

Change sticky traps two to three weeks after the first crawler emergence. If crawlers continue to be caught on the fresh traps, apply a second insecticide application.

References (and internet sites) Japanese Maple Scale. TPM/IPM Weekly Report for Arborists, Landscape Managers & Nursery Managers, June 4, 2010. Contributors: S. Gill, P. Shrewsbury, K. Rane, C. Schuster,

Photo 5. Japanese maple scale can develop a large population quickly.

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G. Rosenkranz, D. Clement, A. Ristvey, and B. Clark. http://ipmnet. umd.edu/landscape/LndscpAlerts/ 2010/10Jun04L.pdf Japanese Maple Scale (a special alert was sent on August 23rd). TPM/IPM Weekly Report for Arborists, Landscape Managers & Nursery Managers, August 27, 2010. Contributors: S.Gill, P. Shrewsbury, K. Rane, C. Schuster, G. Rosenkranz, D. Clement, A. Ristvey, and B. Clark. http://www. takornaparkmd.gov/publicworks/ arborist/tpmipm082710.pdf Gill, S., S. Klick and S. Wadkins. Scale Commonly Encountered in Maryland Landscapes and Nurseries. University of Maryland Extension. http://ipmnet. umd.edu/landscape/docs/09Scales UnivofMD.pdf C

Photo 6. This tree is on the edge of the field. The outward-facing side of the tree (on the left) receives more spray, and JMS are absent from this portion of the tree. The inward-facing side of the tree (on the right) is more protected and receives less direct spray coverage. Consequently, scale populations have built up on this part of the tree.

News from the UT Gardens

UT Gardens Joins with HGTV in a New Partnership

H

ome and Garden Television (HGTV) and Scripps Networks (located in Knoxville, Tennessee) recently committed $25,000 to establish the HGTV UT Gardens Internship Fund, which will provide support for public-horticulture students working in The University of Tennessee Gardens. The scholarship is intended to give students an opportunity to create state-of-the-art, sustainable garden spaces in two of the most premier learning laboratories in East Tennessee.

The HGTV/UT partnership is a first step in providing more student opportunities in public horticulture, said Sue Hamilton, director of the UT Gardens. In the near future, HGTV and the UT Gardens will negotiate a second phase that will provide more

opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to design a landscape-and-gardening plan for HGTV and the UT Gardens, as well as participate firsthand in the implementation.

“UT has one of only three publichorticulture programs in the country, and this partnership will help shape the future leaders of this exciting field,” Hamilton said. Sarah Cronan, senior vice president of brand management for HGTV, said she saw this partnership as a way to add to HGTV’s Green LEED certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council, which was achieved when the building was built.

Shianne Kaina, a junior at UT in public horticulture from Byron, Michigan, is this year’s intern. As part of the agreement, HGTV offered an

Above: Shianne Kaina, working in the new entrance garden at the HGTV studios in Knoxville.

opportunity to landscape the grounds at the front entrance to the HGTV home studios on Sherill Lane in West Knoxville. Shianne has been splitting her time, working in the UT Gardens and at the HGTV home studios, gaining real-world experience to complete a project for the nation’s largest network dedicated to home and gardening.

“This has given me an opportunity to get some real hands-on experience,” Kaina said. “I get to bring ambience to the area, and I can tell that the employees at HGTV are enjoying the new design when they are sitting outside or looking out the window.” C

Dr. Sue Hamilton Elected President of the American Conifer Society’s Southeast Region

Dr.

Sue Hamilton, director of The University of Tennessee Gardens, has been elected president of the American Conifer Society’s Southeast Region for a two-year term. The American Conifer Society (ACS) supports the development, conservation and propagation of conifers (with an emphasis on those that are dwarf or unusual), as well as standardization of nomenclature and education of the public.

In her role at the UT Gardens, Hamilton has led the expansion of the Gardens’ conifer collection from approximately 70 specimens in 2005

to 401 specimens in 2011, and she oversaw the effort that earned the Gardens’ recognition as an ACS Reference Garden in 2008. In 2010, she organized a Conifer Symposium that was hosted by the UT Gardens and supported by a grant from the ACS SE Region.

Hamilton invites everyone to visit the conifer collection — and the other plant collections — at the UT Gardens. Public displays are open in both Knoxville and Jackson, as part of the UT Institute of Agriculture campus and the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center.

The Gardens are open during all sea-

At Right: Dr. Sue Hamilton, Director of The University of Tennessee Gardens

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sons and are free to the public. See http://utgardens.tennessee.edu and http://westtennessee.tennessee.edu/ ornamentals for more information, or contact Hamilton at 865-974-7324 or sueham@utk.edu.

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IPPS Eastern Region Annual Meeting (Int’l. Plant Propagators’ Society) Seelbach Hilton Hotel Louisville, KY Contact: 631-765-9638 www.ipps.org/easternna

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February 26-28, 2012

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