Forests

With Thanksgiving approaching, turkeys are on many of our minds. But for those that live in a neighborhood with frequent turkey visitors, you might think of them more often. Like most creatures, turkeys are not always considered a pest, and some people may even enjoy seeing them.

While you may not notice symptoms of peach leaf curl until the spring, you should manage it in the fall and winter. Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease that primarily affects peach and nectarine trees.

A line of pushed up grass. A volcano sized mound. Yep, it's probably a mole! While you may never actually see the mole itself, the signs of their presence are pretty clear. Moles are small burrowing mammals (not rodents) that live almost entirely underground in extensive tunnel networks.

With the passing of law AB 1322 in 2023 and the recent passing of AB 2552 in September 2024, the options for managing California ground squirrels using lethal methods in urban areas will be more limited.

Rats can contaminate our food, damage structures, and spread diseases. To help residents and urban pest professionals safely and effectively manage rats, UC IPM has updated the Pest Notes: Rats publication.

In this blog article we answer some frequently asked questions about moles, voles, and gophers and their management. How can I tell if I have moles, voles, gophers, or something else? Moles: look for circular or volcano-shaped mounds with the plug in the middle, or a plug may not be apparent.

After years of drought, we welcome rain in California. But we also recognize that rain can help spread a number of plant diseases. Rain and wind can splash bacteria and fungi from infected leaves, branches, and blossoms to uninfected parts of the tree.

Pocket gophers can cause significant damage to valuable turf, girdle trees, and chew irrigation lines. Their mounds can create tripping hazards and lead to erosion concerns when found on slopes.

Spring is just around the corner and many types of fruit trees are starting to develop their leaves. If you are growing peaches or nectarines and are now seeing symptoms of peach leaf curl on new leaves, unfortunately it's too late to manage the disease.

Springtime planting is almost here but don't rush to plant seeds until the soil has warmed up! Planting seeds too soon, when the soil is cold and wet, risks losing them to damping-off, a disease caused by fungi and oomycetes in the soil.