Tagged: Help Desk

Birds / Tales from the Help Desk

 by Patsy McGrady

Tales from the Help Desk, Strange Markings

Q. What are the strange marks on my holly tree?  A. Those strange, rectangular shaped bare spots in the bark were made by sapsuckers, a type of woodpecker. While these birds eat insects, fruits, and nuts, they also enjoy tree sap. Here in eastern North America, the most common and destructive of these birds is the American yellow-bellied sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius. These are migratory birds that feed in Virginia when the sap begins to run in March, and then again...

Carbon Garden / Garden Maintenance / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Tales from the Help Desk

 by Patsy McGrady

Tales from the Help Desk, Uninvited Mushrooms

Q. Why are mushrooms in my yard? How can I get rid of them? A. Mushrooms tend to pop up in the fall due to shady, cool, and moist conditions and the availability of organic material in the lawn. The mushroom is the fruit of an underground feeding network (mycelium) of fungal threads (hyphae). Fungi feed on decomposing plant material and make that material accessible to the grass growing in the yard. Mushrooms do not damage the lawn and can...

Tales from the Help Desk

 by Patsy McGrady

Tales from the Help Desk, Mysterious Spots

Q. What is going on with my weeping redbud? Most of the leaves are covered in spots and many have black areas.  A. The spots and blackening areas on your weeping redbud appear to be fungal infections that probably include anthracnose. It is not unusual to see redbud trees (and almost any deciduous tree) in the fall with fungal infections showing up as spots and blackened areas on the leaves. This seems to be especially common on redbud trees. The...