Recently, a church trustee in Bartow County brought samples of “holey” mail to the local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office for closer examination. Strangely, mail deposited in the church’s mailbox was showing up with holes chewed through the outer layer of the envelopes, but the mail inside was intact — a small miracle in itself.

The use of cover crops has risen among both traditional and organic producers for a variety of reasons — to control erosion, choke out weeds, improve soil health and enhance water availability. Now research by University of Georgia scientists is examining which cover crops also may provide important habitat for predatory insects that could help control disease- and damage-causing pests in cotton.

Excessive rain signals another a bad year for leaf spot diseases on landscape trees and shrubs. The leaf spotting that affects pear trees, including both edible pears and ornamental Bradford types, is caused by a fungal disease known as Entomosporium leaf spot. This disease also affects related shrubs such as Indian hawthorn and red tip photinia.

An impressive team of University of Georgia researchers has received $765,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Crop Protection and Pest Management Program to support the continuation of integrated pest management (IPM) programming throughout the state over the next three years.

While aphids aren’t a direct threat to cotton plants, they can carry a persistent virus that is difficult to control and can cause significant losses in one of Georgia’s most important crops.

The hot, humid climate in the Southeast lends itself to nearly year-round insect, weed and disease pressure, and growing is especially tough if you’re an organic farmer.

As we head into summer, we start to see problems with weeds, diseases and insects in the landscape and around vegetable gardens. Some of these pest problems can be solved without the use of chemicals, but if the pest population reaches damaging levels, using pesticides may be warranted. Remember that using pesticides is safe and legal but requires reading and following label directions in their entirety.

As warm-season turfgrasses continue to green up, diseases are rearing their ugly heads. The main culprit this time of year is a fungus, Rhizoctonia solani, that causes large patch disease in lawns. Large patch can infect all warm-season turfgrasses, but centipede, St. Augustine, and zoysia are particularly susceptible.

If you're seeing brown areas in your landscape trees or hedges where you should be seeing green, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension can help. Wet winters and severe weather have been causing disease and other issues in landscape plants, especially Leyland cypress and boxwood.