Ornamental Diseases 

What are some signs and symptoms for ornamental diseases and how do we fight them?

For sure, sick, weakly and shriveled up landscape ornamentals are not going to win you many accolades. The best bet to prevent foliar diseases is through good cultural practice. The first step to keeping disease at bay is to select plants that are less susceptible to the most prevalent disease in our region. Your nurseryman or landscaper will be able to guide you. Make sure you plant ornamentals farther apart to encourage air movement and this helps prevent them from disease. Make sure you water right. Watering in the evening is an open invitation for disease. Give your plants plenty of time to dry. Try to resist the urge to go running for the fungicide. Make sure your plants are purchased from top quality nurseryman, their plants are grown in a quality environment, no infected plant material and do not have signs of disease. Some signs and symptoms of disease are powdery mildew – this is a fungal disease that reveals itself in a white or light gray power substance coating the leaves. Anthracnose is a disease that mainly attached deciduous trees. If you see irregular patches of dead spots on the leaf of if the leaves are curling, anthracnose could be the culprit. Rust is found mainly on the leaves of and will have areas that are orange, brown or yellow. Scabs and spots are lesions that appear as dead spots on the leaves. Sometimes the dead tissue falls out of the leaf, leaving a spot that is a hole.