Posts

Calls about Spiders

| Sarah Noggle

This past week, I had a few calls about controlling spiders in the home.  I thought it was beneficial to share Joe Bogg’s most recent post about spiders.  Also, for those of you who would like to be able to identify spiders from Ohio, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has some great booklets to help online.

Post from Buckeye Yard and Garden Online, Joe Boggs

Published on
Yellow Garden Spider

Two of our larger native spiders found in Ohio are orb weavers (family Araneidae) so-named because of their circular (orb) webs.  The webs are intricate structures involving both sticky and non-sticky silk.

The yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) is called many names including the black and yellow spider, zig-zag spider, and a few names I can’t share when the big spiders suddenly “appear” at face-level.  I’m using the common name that’s been approved by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) for this species.  Likewise, it’s a similarly showy cousin, the white-backed garden spider (A. trifasciata) is also referred to with many non-approved names such as the descriptive banded garden spider. Continue reading →

Join the Paulding County Master Gardener at their Drive Through Plant Sale on Saturday, September 12

| Sarah Noggle

Join the Paulding Master Gardener Volunteers at their Fall Drive Through Plant Sale on Saturday, September 12 from 10 AM – 2 PM at the Paulding County Fairgrounds.  We are asking that people enter via the main gate at the fairgrounds. Please bring a box or have your trunk lined with newspapers to set your plants in.  A volunteer will walk with you outside your car to take your order. You will be asked to stay in your car. Items are priced to sell.  See our listing of plants, trees, etc. Quantities are limited so come early to get the best selection.

Videos and resources now available from August 14 event “Legal Considerations for Woodland Owners-Virtual Day in the Woods”

| Sarah Noggle

From Dave Apsley, OSU Extension

Meeting Recording: Zoom Meeting Recording

  • Timber Theft and Trespass in Ohio – James S. Savage, Esq. and Mark Rickey, Service Forester, ODNR-Division of Forestry (Start at the beginning of the video)
  • Ohio Fence Line Law, recreational user laws and other issues facing Ohio woodland owners-Peggy Kirk Hall, Associate Professor, Agricultural & Resource Law, Ohio State University Extension, and Amy Milam, Director of Legal Education, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (Start at minute 51 of the video)

Continue reading →

Forest and wildlife history and future challenges

| Sarah Noggle
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hoffer, Public Safety Supervisor, Ohio State University Mansfield

Our September 11th, A DAY in the WOODS program Forest and wildlife history and future challenges will once again be offered via Zoom.    This program will focus on the only constant in nature, change.  Our wonderful lineup of panelists will discuss the history of Ohio’s forests and wildlife, as well as, some of the current and future challenges facing our woodlands and wildlife.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Continue reading →

Bark Beetles and Ambrosia Beetles: the Big Picture

| Sarah Noggle
Bark Beetles

I’ve received several reports over the past few weeks from landscape managers and arborists of small holes in tree trunks that are oozing sap or exuding odd-looking cylindrical strands of white sawdust.  The delicate strands of packed sawdust and insect excrement are the calling card of ambrosia beetles and are sometimes called “frass toothpicks.”  The oozing holes are the work of bark beetles.

Bark Beetle

Continue reading →

Spot the Spot – Ohioans Encouraged to Look for the Spotted Lanternfly

| Sarah Noggle

We are urging Ohioans to be on the look-out for the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) (SLF). This non-native insect was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has been ‘popping-up’ in other states. We encourage others to become familiar with the insect and continue to be on the look-out for the actual insect itself, along with other signs and symptoms. Although not an outright killer of plants, it can be a stress factor causing plant decline, and sometimes death of certain host plants. This insect can also be a nuisance in numbers where recently reports in neighboring Pennsylvania have increased 500% from the previous year.

Below is a resource from Penn State Extension illustrating the life-cycle of the SLF. The insect overwinters in the egg stage where eggs are laid in masses on ‘any’ flat surface. If you were to spot SLF in Ohio, you would most likely be seeing adult activity this time of the year. Continue reading →

Is It Oak Wilt, Or Not?

| Sarah Noggle
Suspect Oak Wilt in NW Ohio - Lucas County
Photo Credit Amy Stone

From Amy Stone, OSU Extension, Lucas County

Oak wilt is a very serious and often deadly disease of oaks, specifically the oaks in the red or black oak group. The actual pathogen (Bretziella fagacearum) that causes the disease has been known to be in Ohio for many decades. Some years, it appears to be worse than others. Oak wilt is not like the emerald ash borer that spreads rapidly, almost like a tidal wave moving in one direction. Oak wilt builds in a way that it can radiate out to other like trees, but advances at a slower pace, but even then, can cause tree death in a single season, and often in a matter of weeks. When not managed it can continue to spread or move-out across an oak-dominated landscape, park, or woodlot as pictured below.

The fungus invades the sapwood or the water-conducting tissues of the tree. In addition to its actual presence in the tree, it also triggers a defense reaction by the tree to stop the fungal spread. This action interferes with water uptake from the tree roots upwards to branches and ultimately leaves in the canopy. The result is wilting. Leaves turn brown from the tips, inward to the base of the leaf that attached to the branch. It has been described that this transition on the leaf looks like if you dipped it partially in milk chocolate. Continue reading →

Fall Fruit Update – Covering Brambles (Blackberries and Raspberries), Grapes, Hardy Figs, and Hardy Kiwis – Register Now

| Sarah Noggle

Join us for timely fruit research updates for your farm and garden, and to get your questions answered by experts from The Ohio State University. This FREE, online-only event will feature several video presentations recorded from the OSU South Centers research fields, as well as live question and answer segments. The event will take place from 10-11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, using the Zoom meeting platform.

When registering, you can submit questions you would like answered during the event. To register, visit https://go.osu.edu/fruitupdate. Be sure to include an email address that your monitor regularly, as this will be the method we use to send you the link to join the event.

This event is made possible via funding by a Specialty Crop Block Grant from USDA through the Ohio Department of Agriculture and by a Viticulture Extension grant from Ohio Grape Industries Committee.

Event Flyer