Treating for rose slugs requires patience
That clover that springs up in your lawn can be controlled, but it’s beneficial
This spring my 5-year-old rose showed little holes. I sprayed horticultural oil topside and under leaves. Last week it was covered with green worms. I cut back the entire plant leaving only the stump. What else can be done?
Sounds like you were dealing with rose slugs, the larvae of sawflies. There are three species and multiple generations. You may have hit one generation with the horticultural oil, only to have another come along At this point, be patient and water what’s left of your shrub during dry periods. Roses can be resilient. Watch for rose slugs on new growth. Different rose slug species feed on upper or lower leaf surfaces. For light infestations, pick off and destroy the larvae. For heavy infestations, spray with horticultural oil or spinosad. Search “rose slugs” on the HGIC website.
I have begun seeing patches of clover in my lawn. It’s hard to eliminate. What to do?
Clover is almost impossible to eliminate completely because new seeds continue to sprout. Fortunately, it has benefits which may temper the frustration or lead to a laissez-faire solution. In the past, clover was purposely put in turf seed mixes. Clover fixes nitrogen, which means less fertilizer is necessary. And, of course, pollinators love its flowers. Whereas turf grass contributes little to the ecosystem, adding clover can make a lawn a plus. Avoid applying herbicide when the clover is blooming. Search “clover control” on the HGIC website for herbicide recommendations. Multiple applications will be needed. University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Maryland’s Gardening Experts” to send questions and photos.
Digging Deeper
White footed mice and Lyme disease A happy event: a hawk’s beak holds a white footed mouse, about to be fed to a hatchling. Hawks, snakes and foxes are crucial in the fight against Lyme disease, because they eat white footed mice, a primary mover of Lyme disease. Deer ticks (i.e. black-legged ticks) are not born infected. As newborn larvae they are infected by their first host, e.g. voles, chipmunks, birds, but their preferred host is the white footed mouse, which can transmit Lyme disease to ticks. The next spring, tick nymphs again must feed and again the preferred host is white footed mice. (Deer can be a host, but cannot transmit Lyme.) May-June is prime time for humans to get Lyme because nymphs are so tiny — the size of poppy seeds —that they go undetected. Adult and nymph ticks are active into fall. For a