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Identification, lifecycle, and management strategies for common pests and diseases in our region.
Three problems kill spring vegetable seedlings in the Puget Sound lowlands: damping off, cutworms, and slugs. Each leaves a different signature and demands a different fix. Learn to read the stem, the soil, and the damage pattern before you reach for a product.
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Most leaf spots on established plants are cosmetic. Learn to tell the difference between harmless spotting and the few leaf spot diseases that actually threaten plant health in the Puget Sound lowlands.
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Identify the three slug species that matter in the Puget Sound lowlands, understand why national advice fails here, and build a seasonal management plan anchored by fall baiting and iron phosphate.
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How to read fire blight infection risk during bloom using the CougarBlight model, when to apply Bacillus subtilis, and how to respond to shoot blight with proper pruning technique.
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In July 2025, a private arborist in Portland noticed stress symptoms on a green ash near a swimming pool parking lot.The crown was thinning from the top.
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You cut into an apple from your backyard tree and find a brown, frass-filled tunnel running straight to the core.
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Sometime in late April or early May, you walk outside and notice thick, cottony webs bunched in the branch forks of your cherry tree or crabapple.
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You find it on a Monday morning in May. The strawberry you were planning to pick tomorrow is covered in a gray, dusty fur.
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You notice it in May.Olive-green spots on the upper surface of your apple leaves, each one the size of a pencil eraser, with edges that look a little smoky.
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You planted a European white birch because you wanted that white bark against a dark fence, or because the developer put one in twenty years ago and you inherited it.
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You notice the sticky residue first.Something is dripping onto your car, your patio furniture, the hosta leaves underneath the dogwood.
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Why our wet winters create perfect conditions for Phytophthora, and how to protect your landscape.
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Learn the difference between cosmetic leaf spot anthracnose and destructive dogwood canker disease. Regional strategy for the Pacific Northwest.
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Aphids are everywhere in our region's gardens. The best response is usually no response at all. Here is how to tell when that changes.
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Armillaria root rot is a fungal disease that weakens tree health through decay of roots and the base. Learn identification, prevention, and management.
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Those strange galls on your maple leaves and blistered pear foliage are caused by mites too small to see. Most of the time, the plant does not care.
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Most spring shoot blight on pears and apples in the Pacific Northwest is Pseudomonas, not fire blight. Learn to distinguish the two and manage them correctly.
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Those winding trails and blotches inside your leaves look alarming. On most landscape plants, leafminers are cosmetic damage that requires no treatment.
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Root weevils are the most common landscape pest in this region. The notched leaves are cosmetic. The larvae eating your roots are not. Here is what to do about both.
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Spider mites explode in hot, dry conditions. In this region, that means July and August are your risk window. Here is how to spot them early and what actually works.
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You notice it on a Tuesday in July.One side of your [Japanese maple](/guides/japanese-maple/) wilts while the other side looks fine.
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Kelsey's Dogwood Black Spot is a fungal disease affecting dogwoods in humid maritime climates. Identification, prevention, and treatment are covered.
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You're standing in your orchard in mid-March, watching your apple and pear trees prepare to leaf out.
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Learn which non-native plant species pose the greatest ecological threat in the Puget Sound lowlands and what properties to avoid when selecting plants.
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Powdery mildew in the maritime Pacific Northwest behaves differently than national guides assume. Learn why the wet spring sets up the June explosion, which plants need treatment, and how to read the temperature window that triggers it.
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You're looking at your lawn in late February and noticing irregular brown patches.The grass is thin, dead sections are expanding, and you're starting to panic.
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