Landscaping Tips: Autumn ideal time to manage plant diseases

By Professor Gary Franc, Plant pathology specialist, UW CES

Autumn is an ideal time to practice plant disease prevention around the home landscape.

Because many plant pathogens overwinter in old plant debris, properly discarding or composting debris this fall will not only clean things up, but it also will remove these plant disease-causing organisms from landscapes and gardens.

This cultural practice is called “sanitation,” and it is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the risk of disease development next growing season and the need for future disease-control measures using chemicals.

Old plant debris from gardens, flowerbeds and other planted areas should be removed, buried or composted. Burying debris and proper composting practices will enable old plant materials to decay and recycle. Once decay occurs, many plant pathogens fail to survive when released to the soil environment. The cold temperatures and soil-freezing typically experienced in Wyoming also will help reduce soil-borne pest problems.

Fallen tree leaves should be removed as much as practical to reduce carryover of leaf spotting and powdery mildew fungi. Although these fungi rarely kill their hosts, chronic infections year after year are detrimental.

Late autumn removal of old grass clippings from the lawn and a final mowing of grass in areas where snow accumulates will help reduce the risk of snow mold development. Grass can be used to mulch garden soil; however, be certain “weed-and-feed” type products were not used on the lawn. The herbicide in these products may carry over in the clippings and contaminate the garden soil.

The University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) has a number of landscaping and gardening bulletins on its Horticulture Web page at http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/Horticulture/Horticulture_Publications_Main.htm.   

 

Among the titles are Snow Molds of Turfgrass, B-868, and Backyard Composting: Simple, small-scale methods, B-974R.

 

Additional bulletins on plant diseases and insects are on the UW CES Plant Sciences Web page at http://ces.uwyo.edu/plantsci.htm.

 

Among the titles is An Introduction to Plant Pathology and Plant Disease Management, B-1053.

Bulletins and more information on gardening and landscaping are also available from county offices across the state. Contact information is at http://ces.uwyo.edu/Counties.asp.

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

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