Scale insects can infest and damage many of the plants we grow in our landscapes and indoors. They feed on the sap of plants, and a large enough population can weaken a plant, damage it or even kill ...

When I spotted a scale insect on a leaf of my Thai lime tree recently, I sighed. It’s only December; sometimes they show up ...

You should have applied the most important insect spray of the year — dormant oil sprays — during the winter. Why then? Because that’s when insects susceptible to these sprays are most vulnerable. Why ...

I got an email with some pictures a few years ago asking me about magnolia scale, which is a topic I have written about for a number of years. I feel confident the insect was magnolia scale. The ...

Many gardeners, as well as the horticulturists at the Chicago Botanic Garden, had issues with magnolia scale last year, and it’s a pest to watch closely for in 2025. The Garden’s plant health care ...

Spring beauty is fleeting, and so is the opportunity to stop scale insects that live on the bark of magnolia trees and suck their sap. “With scale insects, timing is everything,” said Sharon Yiesla, ...

Q: This is a picture of our dogwood tree with white growths on it. Your help is appreciated. A: Your dogwood tree has a healthy case of scale insects. Scale insects attach themselves to the host plant ...

My Japanese magnolias have this horrible disease that causes tan-colored growths that look like boils on the branches, and they attract flies. A black mildew is on the leaves, and the leaves ...

There are many types of scale insects that potentially can become a pest on a number of landscape plants in North Florida. But the home gardener may not recognize these small-scale critters as insects ...

Many people have a potted citrus plant or two that they keep indoors during the winter and move outdoors for the summer. It may be one of those dwarf trees that produce full-sized fruit. Or it could ...

Some oils from natural ingredients like peppermint, garlic, lemon, and thyme may help ward off insects. However, more research is needed to fully support the benefits of homemade bug sprays. Not ...