FAQ

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Home, Garden, and Yard

My zucchini plant has white spots in the leaves of the plant. New leaves are green but mature with the white spots. There is no powder residue or other obvious sign of fungus. No other plant in the garden has this appearance. What is the problem?
Our lawn is very bumpy and hard to walk on. Are the quaking aspen tree roots doing this? Should we aerate the lawn or does this cause more problems with the roots?
Please Help, my blue lake pole beans are not producing like they should, the blossoms are not sticking and those that do have matured into flat stringing beans or Big hard ones with white fuzz around the middle of the seed inside please help me I need my beans.
The leaves of our sweet cherry tree have yellowed and our falling off at an alarming rate. This started two weeks ago and in another week ALL the leaves will have dropped except for a few on the tips of new growth (i.e. water spouts). This happened last year to two of our other sweet cherry trees. They did NOT come back this spring. Dead! The trees are 25 years old and pruned yearly. I've been fairly diligent about spraying (dormant oil, fruit fly, and borer) for the six years I've owned the house. At times they have shown signs of borer (or other insect) damage since there has been gumming spots on the trees. When I bought the house I removed the grass around the trees (not quite to the drip line,but a about four feet from the trunk. The trees get water from the lawn sprinklers, but I regularly (every 2-3 weeks) let a hose run water around the tree and soak in for a couple hours. When I fertilize the garden (commercial IFA garden chemical fertilizer)I toss a couple handfuls at the base of each tree. So some fertilizer about twice a year. The soil around the house is mixed. I would guess that most of it is moderate clay. We live on the edge of the bench not far from the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon. If I had just walked into the yard, I would guess that the trees were getting too much water (yellowing leaves) instead of not enough water (dry crisping leaves). But I really don't water the trees that much and not at all in the last couple weeks when this yellow & leaf drop started. My only other clue is some leaves have brown spots. About the time we bought the house, a neighbor had a cherry tree drop most of its leaves and they were told (USU ext?) that it was a fungus; they sprayed and saved the tree. They've moved so I can't ask them specifics. I don't remember if the leaves had yellowed and then dropped. Too long ago. Help?
The leaves on my grape plants have turned yellow. The veins are still green but the rest of the leaf is yellow. I added some iron about a week ago and have not noticed any change as yet. Is there something else I need to do?
The leaves on my strawberry plants have turned a very pale green or yellow with some brown on the edges what do they need?
We are putting in a backyard with grass seed instead of sod. I am wondering if we need to add lime to our soil to change the pH and also what types of grass work best in our area. I assume that Kentucky Bluegrass would be best, but should I get a mix or just the Bluegrass? Are certain brands better than others?
We created square foot gardens last year and have discovered the cat has used them for a litter box over the winter and spring. There isn't a large amount of feces,which we remove, but we are concerned that it may have contaminated the soil. Should we dig it out and start over?
We don't have morning glory in our lawn, but it is taking over our strawberries. Is there anything we can do? If we decide we'd rather get rid of the morning glory instead of saving the strawberries, will roundup get rid of it?
We moved into our 2-story home in Lehi 1 year ago. The tree out front (which I planned to have my husband cut donw) has doubled in height since then. I don't know what kind of tree it is...medium size, darkish leaves. How do we (and when should we) cut it down to prevent it from sending up suckers?
What is a good fertilizer schedule?
What is the best thing to do with seedlings that are too tall for the seed starting kits? I have cauliflower and tomato plants that are 'leggy' and now too tall, but not yet ready to go outside. I received last week an advertisement about that hybrid zoysia grass that needs little watering and little mowing. Is that for real and if so, would it work in our climate? Supposedly it is cold hardy to -30. If I think that I there are gophers in my yard, what is the best way to eradicate them?
When and how do I harvest my butternut and buttercup squash?
When moving into our new home I removed two small quaking aspen trees. Even though the main trees are gone there are a good multiple dozen shoots that are coming up all over the lawn. How do I get rid of these for good...hopefully without ripping up my entire yard? Also my neighbors all have these aspen trees and I would like to "treat" the baby shoots coming up on my side of the fence line without damaging their trees. Is that possible?

Insects

I've lived in Spanish Fork all my life and have never seen a beetle like this before...and they're suddenly all over our yard! The adults are about 1/3" long. They are either yellow-green or blue-green on their backs, with a small band of light tan (almost white) all the way around the outside edge. They don't fly. We find them usually running across the driveway and I've found a few in the flower gardens as I'm weeding.

Yard