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Conserv FS News

Posted on: 07/11/23
Posted on: 06/11/23

Posted on: 04/13/23

Posted on: 5/10/23

Cedar Rust


Posted on: 03/16/23

Posted on: 11/17/22

Posted on: 10/3/22

Twoline Chestnut Borer

A collaborative effort of Deerfield, Lake Forest, Northbrook, and the Morton Arboretum is aimed at trying to assure the current attack on oak trees by the twolined chestnut borer beetle will not be as severe as the devastation to ash trees by the emerald ash borer, a few years ago.

“We can very easily treat it,” said Corey Wierema, the head forester for the city of Lake Forest. “It’s always been here, but this year the infestation has been severe.”

Deerfield, Lake Forest, and Northbrook are currently working with the Morton Arboretum to gather information about the impact of the chestnut borer on oak trees in their towns so other Lake and Cook County communities can learn the best treatment when it spreads.

Wierema said weather conditions over the past seven years made the environment ripe for the chestnut borer this summer. He and colleagues in other communities started noticing the bug in June. High rainfall for five years, followed by dry conditions the past two, caused the outbreak.

“We started to put the pieces together,” he said. “When you have these conditions, it really puts a lot of stress on trees like the oak. Oaks can be temperamental and susceptible to the chestnut beetle. It can be very destructive. The infestation was higher than normal.”

Bob Phillips, Deerfield’s director of public works and engineering, said the three communities started noticing a greater infestation of the chestnut borer leading to the partnership with the Morton Arboretum.

Phillips said the three towns all have strong populations of oak trees and noticed similar conditions, like the crown of the trees starting to lose color in the leaves. They are working with the Morton Arboretum to track data to find solutions when the borer spreads elsewhere.

“They only attack trees in a weakened condition,” Phillips said. “The arboretum is gathering data over two years to learn as much as they can about the impact on the trees. It’s not going away. The beetle is able to travel.”

Along with working with the Morton Arboretum, Wierema said all three communities are putting information on their websites to educate their residents. Discoloration of the leaves is a potential sign.

“You should use supplemental water in dry periods if it hasn’t rained for a few days,” he said. “The roots need a pretty deep watering or a deep soaking.”

Kelly Hamill, the public works director for Northbrook, said there are things homeowners can do to protect oak trees on their property from infestation. Like Wierema, Hamill said people should let the hose or sprinkler soak the tree for a few hours.

If the tree is surrounded by grass with no ring of soil around it, Hamill said homeowners can remove a circle of grass and put mulch there to allow water to reach the root system more easily. Such treatment makes the trees less susceptible to beetle infestation.

“If you see a dying branch, remove it so the tree won’t be in stress anymore,” Hamill said. “You should separate it completely. Look for (other) signs of stress.”

Wierema said with the emerald ash borer beetle when the signs of stress appear, there is little to be done to help the tree. With the twolined chestnut borer, trimming, watering, and the help of a certified arborist.


Posted on: 6/8/22

Turf fertilizer with Merit 0.2 or Imidacloprid 0.2 will provide plant nutrients as well as control selected insect pests on turfgrass, including home lawns, school grounds, nursing homes and hospital grounds, city, county, state, municipal and federal grounds, business and office complexes, shopping complexes, multi-family residential complexes, golf courses, airports, churches, cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, and sod farms.

Features & Benefits

  • Season-long grub control
  • Low application rates (0.25 - 0.4 LBS AI/per acre)
  • Broad-spectrum insecticide
  • Long application window: June–July

Packaging: 50 Pound Bag



Posted on: 5/10/22

Proven Performance
Strobe Pro G fungicide provides the same long-lasting, broad- spectrum disease control as Strobe Pro fungicide, only now in granular form. Strobe Pro G is a combination of two broad spectrum, preventative, and curative fungicides with systemic properties for the control of many important turfgrass diseases. Strobe Pro G may be applied by drop or rotary broadcast granular spreaders.

Formulation
Granular herbicide, AI: 0.31% Azoxystrobin, 0.75% Propiconazole

Features & Benefits

  • All markets can easily use Strobe Pro G without making a complete tank mix.
  • LCO’s can treat localized portions of a home lawn.
  • Smaller sport turf facilities that do not have large spray equipment, now have an affordable means to treat most common turf diseases.
  • Golf courses can treat individual greens when the spray equipment is being used for other applications.

Effective Against
Foliar, stem and root diseases such as leaf and stem blights, dollar spot, leaf spots, patch diseases, anthracnose, fairy rings, mildews, molds, and rusts of turfgrass.

Strobe Pro G Diseases

  • Packaging: 30 Pound Bag— Item# 480411

Contact your Conserv FS Turf specialist for more information.



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