- Hi, thanks for joining us for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

I'm Chris Cooper.

The season is winding down but some harmful insects are just getting started.

Today we're going to talk about three bad news bugs.

Also, owls help control harmful rodents.

That's just ahead on The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

- (female announcer) Production funding for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South is provided by the WKNO Production Fund, The WKNO Endowment Fund, and by viewers like you, thank you.

[upbeat country music] - Welcome to The Family Plot.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today is Lisa Lawhead.

Lisa is a Tennessee Department of Agriculture Plant Inspector and Mary Schmidt will be joining me later.

Good to have you with us today, Lisa.

- Thank you, Chris.

Good to be here.

- Good.

So, we're going to talk about fall insect pests.

Let's start with the spongy moth.

- Okay.

Well, the spongy moth was previously called the gypsy moth.

It is a destructive invasive insect that is found in the northeastern United States.

It's been here at least a century.

- Okay.

- It is a female moth that will attach its eggs to, you know, trees and stones and toys and equipment, your vehicle, anything that moves.

And so, that's what we have to be careful about this time of year, especially on firewood.

So, we want to check for those egg masses.

They're one and a half inches long and three-quarters inch wide.

They're like a yellowish color, look like they have hair maybe.

And each egg mass can contain up to a thousand eggs.

- That's a lot of eggs.

- Yeah, it's a lot.

So, that's what you want to be looking for right now.

The caterpillars are what do the damage.

And they defoliate the trees.

So, repeated infestations can kill those trees.

- Wow.

- And they feed on a huge list of trees.

They're not very selective.

- Okay.

- The spongy moth, like I said, is a hitchhiker and you can unknowingly spread this pest.

So, it's actually against USDA regulations to move from an infested area to a non-infested area.

So, you definitely want to know where you live if you're in a quarantined area.

And you want to go through that checklist before you move.

And you really want to have a certificate that states that what you're moving, all those items are clear, free and clear of this pest.

So, it's important to know where you live.

- Wow, this is serious.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- There can be... You can face penalties if you move this pest from a quarantined area in to a non-quarantined area.

- Okay.

So, you mentioned the checklist.

Where can we find the checklist?

- You can find that online, the USDA website.

- All right, we'll make sure to probably have that on our website.

- Yes.

And if you are in a non-quarantined area and you do see this pest, you need to contact your state plant regulatory official.

- That is pretty serious.

- It is.

- So, what about control methods?

- Yeah, like I said, if you're in a quarantined area, you definitely want to contact your Extension agent, you know, to find out how to control it because it's pretty.. You're already in an infested area.

But if you're in a non-infested area, it would be technically a new infestation, and that would be extremely important for that state to know.

- Okay.

That's good info, good info.

Let's talk about spotted lanternfly.

- Yes.

So, spotted lanternfly has only been in the country for about 11 years.

- Okay, so not terribly long.

- Since, yeah, 2014.

- Okay.

- But for it to have expanded its range from Pennsylvania already down in to some of the southern states, that's a pretty quick move for a pest like this.

Now this is a leaf hopper.

It's not a moth.

It's a leaf hopper.

But it does lay eggs.

- Okay.

- And so, that's.. This is another hitchhiker pest that will lay its eggs on any flat surface.

And when that surface moves, you know, that's where the eggs will hatch.

So, right now, you're going to see the adults, and the females will start laying eggs.

And then at first frost, those adults die.

And the eggs will overwinter.

And so, right now, you're going to want to be looking for those, looking for those egg masses.

- Okay.

Now one of the best places to look for these pests is on the tree of heaven.

That tree was brought over here like a hundred years ago.

And it was used for erosion control, like, along the railroads.

- Okay.

- Well, this is kind of how we're seeing these move is along the railroads and laying their eggs on railcars, and then they hop off and there's their food source.

So- - So, true hitchhikers.

- Yeah, true hitchhikers.

And so, right now, there's about 19 states that have some degree of infestation mostly- - Wow.

- Along the east coast and moving into the southern states.

So, these feed on grapevines, which is really bad news for, you know, some winemakers and orchards like stone fruits.

And they also feed on our hardwood trees.

So, these are sap suckers.

They will pierce and suck the juices out of the plant.

And so, then you get that sticky honeydew that grows the black sooty mold.

- Right.

- So, that's one sign that you might have these is seeing that honeydew and the sooty mold.

- Okay.

- If you do have tree of heaven on your property, you know, you may want to get rid of that, but you don't wanna just cut that tree down because you'll send, like, a girdling stress response to the tree and you'll get a bunch of suckers.

- Yep.

- So, it's best to use chemicals, you know, like a stump killer when you're trying to take the tree of heaven down.

But also, like, we have been able to use those as, like, trap trees on your property.

If you were to have an infestation of spotted lantern fly, then you can go and use that tree for treatment.

- Okay.

Now your control method.

So, let's go back to laying of the egg masses.

So, how do you get rid of the egg masses?

- So, you really should take, like, a credit card or a pocket knife and, like, smush them and scrape them off in to some alcohol so that you kill all those eggs.

- Okay.

Wow.

All right, Lisa.

- Yeah.

- So, let's talk about the imported fire ant.

So, the imported fire ant, you know, has been here a while, too.

It came over likely in a shipment in to Mobile, Alabama.

So, in this scenario, we're looking at a pest moving up from the south in to the northern states.

So, it's in pretty much every southeastern state.

And if you live in these southeastern states, then you know what you're dealing with.

You see the mounds.

They like sunny and hot areas.

They like fields and pastures.

And they will build a mound pretty quickly.

Like, the female, she'll start with just a small mound.

But then over a period of time, like, within seven months, she will have a pretty established mound.

And they can get three to five feet tall.

- That's pretty tall.

- Yeah.

- And they can be pretty destructive to farm equipment.

They can girdle young trees.

They can also sting people.

And they cause a burning, you know, sensation, blisters.

But they're also harmful to smaller, like, cattle, you know, and smaller animals.

They will, you know, sting them, as well.

So, the imported fire ant is something that you want to look for moving nursery stock, any plants that are in containers.

They will build nests in those.

- Yeah.

- And so, you want to be careful moving those plants.

- Okay, what about control methods?

- Well, there's a lot of different control methods for the mounds.

And I would definitely reach out to your Extension agent to get some methods for controlling them.

Because, you know, there's a lot of different methods.

And your situation can be different than someone else's.

So, we want to make sure it's the right solution for your situation.

- Right.

And we will have that information at our Extension Office and I'm sure at other local Extension offices, as well.

- Yes.

- All right?

- Yeah.

- Well, Lisa, we appreciate that good information.

- Yeah.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you.

- All right.

[upbeat country music] - This happens to be a cherry tree but it is a thin-barked tree.

And many thin-barked trees get sun scald.

And you can see this sun scald here has tried to heal and is doing okay.

Sun scald happens in the winter time when the temperatures outside heat up during the day and the sun is beating on the thin-skinned bark of the tree.

And then at night when temperatures fall, the tree bark cracks.

And that's what causes sun scald.

This one is trying to heal.

But unfortunately, this one over here is a worst case scenario.

It can't heal.

And since there was no nutrients flowing on this side, this particular branch failed.

And now we've got a real big problem and this tree has serious issues with its health.

[upbeat country music] - We're gonna talk about owls.

- Yes.

- All right.

What kind of owls would we see here in Shelby County?

- Well, in Shelby County, it sort of depends on the time of year, but usually five or six different varieties.

The most common one is a barred owl, B-A-R-R-E-D.

- Okay.

- And we can see that or hear that in our neighborhoods.

We have great horned owls like the one I brought here today.

- Nice.

- Then we also have a little one called a screech owl.

And then we can get a few during migration, or in different parts of the state.

But most of the time, we don't see the owls, but we actually hear them, or we can see evidence that they've been around.

And one of the coolest things we can find from an owl is an owl pellet.

- Okay.

- And I brought one for you to take a look at.

- Yeah, you know, I like to explore.

- And owl pellets are.. An owl cannot digest the hair and bones from what it eats, which is usually rodents, small mammals.

There's a few that eat insects as well.

But in this pellet, you can actually start to dissect it.

And this is something we do at Lichterman, too, and find the bones of different animals and then use a chart to figure out what animals that owl has been eating.

So, it can also be a good indication of the quality of your habitat, things like that.

- And I have a couple of bones here.

- Yeah.

And so, that's one of the benefits of having owls around, too, is that they help with control our rodent, and also small mammals like voles and shrews- - Wow.

- Are a main part of the diet of a lot of owls that are native to the Mid-South.

Well, it's a fun experiment to do.

Yeah, you're finding a lot of good bones.

And then what we could do is take a chart and lay the bones out, and then see what sort of prey items are in your habitat, and what the owls are eating as well.

What do you think that looks like, Joellen?

- I think it's an upper leg of something.

- Kind of does look like that, doesn't it?

- Yeah, like maybe a mouse or something like that.

- A leg of something here.

- Cool.

- Yeah.

- This is cool.

All right.

- So it's pretty beneficial to have owls out and about, right?

- Absolutely.

And our screech owl, which is the smallest owl that we have around here, will also eat insects, which could be pests to your garden as well.

And large insects, too.

- Large insects.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

We heard you mention what, the voles?

Yeah, I know a lot of people that want to get rid of voles in their yard.

- Yes, voles are a big prey item for a barn owl, which we're going to talk a little bit more about later.

- Okay.

All right.

So, what about the feathers of an owl?

- Well, owls are really unique.

They have some special adaptations for hunting at night.

And so, one of the really neat things about an owl is along their edge of their feathers, their flight feathers, they're kind of jagged or serrated like a steak knife versus something like a goose.

And the benefit of that is when a goose flies, you hear it taking off.

You hear its wings disrupting the air.

But when an owl flies, they're silent fliers because that air goes through those little jagged edges instead of being disrupted by it.

So, that's one of the adaptations that owls have.

Another adaptation they have is they have really good eyesight.

They have really big eyes and so they can see things with just a small amount of light.

And then they also belong to a group called raptors, which are hawks, eagles, owls and falcons.

Yeah, so this is from a red-tailed hawk.

And these are their talons.

And it's actually the owl and all raptors most powerful weapon are their feet or their talons.

That's what they use to catch and kill their prey.

- Wow, how about that.

So, that's how they grab those voles and snakes.

- That's right.

Yep, there are owls that focus on eating snakes and small mammals.

And some will even take birds on occasion.

- Oh, okay.

Tell us a little bit about the owl that you brought for us today.

- Sure, I brought a really special owl in today.

This is a barn owl, B-A-R-N.

And it tells you a little bit about the bird.

They do sometimes like to live in old barns.

- Okay.

- But barn owls are a really unique owl.

Barn owls are one of.. There's about 10,000 different types of birds.

- Wow.

- There's about five or six that are found all over the world, and the barn owl is one of them.

And so you can find it on every continent except for Antarctica.

So, that's really unique.

But also this owl is unique for some other reasons, too.

It is not a hooting owl like we think about.

It actually makes a screech or a screaming sound- - Wow.

- Which leads to some of its common names.

We talked about earlier that owls are quiet when they fly.

- Yes.

- And this one could occasionally nest in a barn.

So farmers would see this white thing being really quiet, maybe making its screeching sound, flying out of barns.

So it was called a ghost owl.

The shape of its face is kind of like a heart.

It's actually for hearing, for funneling sounds into their ears.

But it's also called a sweetheart or a monkey-faced owl.

- Wow, interesting.

- So those are some of its other nicknames.

She looks a little interesting today.

She's got a little bit of a mohawk.

She is molting her feathers right now.

So, this bird will do it about once a year, and feathers just get worn and so they need to be replaced throughout the year.

- Sure.

- She has some of those same adaptations we talked about.

She's got the really powerful talons.

She has a sharp curved bill right here.

And then she has really good eyesight.

Well, barn owls have really good eyesight.

I should say this animal lives at Lichterman for a very special reason.

- Okay.

- It is against the law to keep these animals as pets or in captivity without a special permit.

This bird was unfortunately hit by a car and is blind.

- It's blind?

- It is.

- Okay.

- So it lives at Lichterman.

It's one of our animal ambassadors.

So, we talk to people about barn owls.

And it actually.. A lot of these larger birds of prey get hit by cars because of the way they see.

So, this bird can't move its eyeballs like we can.

So, they move their heads, and a lot of people know about owls turning their heads quite a bit.

- Right?

- They can't do a full circle.

They can do about 270 degrees.

But because they also don't have peripheral vision, if they're watching something cross the road or something on the side of the road, they'll be focused on that and not see the car coming this way until it's too late.

- Wow, how about that?

- So yeah, so this is our resident barn owl.

And we use her in a lot of programs.

And they're really unique owls.

They're not really common in Memphis, but we have seen them at Lichterman before.

- How long has she been at Lichterman?

- She's been at Lichterman for about three years.

- About three years, okay?

- We don't know how old she is once these birds- - That's going to be my next question.

- Yeah, once these birds turn a year old, we can't really age them after that.

So, we know she's at least four years old.

She's probably a couple of years older than that.

- Okay.

- They maybe can live eight to ten years.

The oldest record I think is around 15 years.

- Really?

Okay.

What does she eat?

I mean what do you feed her?

- Okay, so at Lichterman, she gets a diet mainly of mice.

She might get a few other things mixed in there just for some enrichment.

But in the wild they eat a lot of voles like we were talking about and shrews.

And a pair of them have been documented catching like 30 mice in 1 night when they have young back at the nest.

So, definitely a friend to the garden.

- Yeah, definitely a friend.

How many young do they have at one time?

- Typically they'll have one to two young.

- Just one to two?

- Yeah.

That's a lot to feed those babies, lots of mice.

- Oh, sure, how about that.

And I guess she does good with the kids.

- She does now, it did take her some time.

We work with her on a regular basis, training her to be used to different sounds, especially around kids.

And also it's to train her to sit on the glove like she is- - Wow.

- Right now.

So that took almost a year to get her really comfortable.

- Wow.

Well, she looks comfortable now.

How about that?

[Mary chuckling] You're doing good.

You're doing good.

Well, Mary we appreciate that.

- Absolutely.

Thanks for having me.

- A real live owl on the show, how about that folks?

[upbeat country music] Let's talk about saving those beans.

During the season when your beans are growing, they're going to be a green color like this.

But you want to be able to save those beans when they turn a tan or a dark brown color.

You should be able to hear those beans when you shake them, right?

They should be able to rattle.

Once you hear that rattle, what you need to do then is collect the rest of your beans, right, off the vine.

Take them inside.

They need to be at room temperature.

Lay them single file, you know, across a table or something like that.

Let them dry out again for another week or so.

What you do then is actually you will peel the pods.

You expose the bean.

You'll get one of the beans and you'll either smash it with your hand or with a hammer.

If it scatters all over the place, then that means it's dry enough for you to start saving it.

So collect the rest of your beans.

Put them in a glass sealed jar, or container that you can seal and that way you can store it and it should be viable for the next couple of years.

[upbeat country music] All right, here's our Q and A segment.

Y'all ready?

- Yeah.

- These are some great questions.

Here's our first viewer e-mail.

"What is this gray stuff that seems to be killing my trees and shrubs?"

And this is Ken from Memphis, Tennessee.

So Joseph, what is that gray stuff?

- It's lichen.

- Lichens.

- Lichen.

So, probably have a couple of things going on.

One, when you don't get enough sunlight coming in, it's too shady.

You can get lichen to grow.

They like the moist, you know, cool shady areas.

And second, they also come in when you're having decaying material.

- Right.

- So, the tree is probably dying and the lichen has come in, and they'll help decay, eat up that decaying wood.

So, my suggestion is to prune out the whatever is dead.

Prune that out.

Thin it out a little bit, too.

If you got other vegetation on there, kind of open it up.

Let some more sunlight come on in there.

- Okay.

So, let's say this.

So, lichens are not killing the trees and shrubs, right, Lisa?

- Right, no.

It's just growing on there as a result of some decomposition.

- Right.

Something interesting about lichens.

Indicator of good air quality.

Right, so, that's something I learned over the years.

- I think they're pretty.

- Not bad.

See, there you go.

There you go, Kenya.

Yeah, Lisa thinks lichens are pretty.

So how about that?

So, thank you for your question and for the picture.

We definitely do appreciate that.

Here's our next viewer e-mail.

"My roses had rose rosette.

"I dug them up.

How long do I have to wait to plant more rose plants?"

And this is Amy from Union Bridge, Maryland.

So what do you think about that question, Lisa?

She knows that she had rose rosette, which is a good thing.

- Yes, knowing what you have obviously is a good thing.

And I would wait about a year, you know, before planting any rose variety back.

When this first came out, they were recommending wait, like, six years.

But they've reduced that time to one year.

It's a mite, you know, that carries the disease.

So I guess if you dig it out and give it time, then that mite goes away if you take away its food source.

- Right, right, because the food source would be the rose plant itself, right?

So you would get, of course, a decrease in the population of mites over time if you don't have the food source- - Yeah.

- Right?

And so, something I like to mention is when I hear people talking about rose rosette, they always think it's a soil-borne, you know, disease or virus.

It is not.

- No.

- The vector is the Eriophyid mite, right?

- Yes.

- So it's feeding on the rose plant itself.

- Right.

- So yeah, you can come back with roses but just have to wait a little while.

- Yeah, wait about a year.

- Wait about a year, okay.

Or if you can't wait a year, consider other shrubs and perennials maybe in the area.

So I hope that helps you out there, Amy.

Thank you so much for that question.

Here's our next viewer e-mail.

"What is happening?

"My oak tree suddenly has fungus growing "all around the base and nearby.

"The tree itself still appears fine.

"The leaves are still green and I do not see any apparent signs of stress."

This is Linda from Georgetown, Massachusetts.

What do you think about that, Joseph?

- The tree is in a state of decline.

The roots are rotting.

It's basically a root rot starting from underneath the tree and the roots.

And over time, the tree will succumb to death.

My recommendation is to have a certified urban arborist come in and do a tree assessment.

And they'll be able to tell, you know, how much is rotted out.

And they'll be able to give you proper recommendations on whether it needs to be removed or other options that you have.

- I would agree with that.

Lisa, anything you want to add to that?

- Yeah, just definitely have an arborist come check that out because, you know, oak trees, if it were to fall, it could be a hazard.

And so, you really do want to know how far along the damage is.

- I would definitely agree.

Yeah, have them come out and assess, you know, that tree.

- Yeah, they have the equipment to use to figure that out.

- Right.

So, there you have it, Ms.

Linda and thank you for the picture.

It's a good picture.

- Yeah, it was.

We appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

All right, here's our next viewer e-mail.

"Does my Lobelia have asters yellow disease?

"The tops look more congested than I would expect, "and the leaves at the top are browning on the tips.

"They look sort of papery.

"Other than that, there is some yellowing "of the lower leaves.

"These Lobelias are in nearly full sun and have been watered regularly this summer."

And this is Jerry from Memphis, Tennessee.

So, what do you think about that, Lisa?

- It definitely could be asters yellow disease.

And I guess when, you know, it does start to flower is when you would really be able to tell.

I mean, it's just now starting to bloom in the photos.

So, I would just maybe wait until it fully starts to come out and bloom before you would destroy it.

But if it does have asters yellow, definitely remove it and destroy it before it spreads.

- Yeah, I would definitely get rid of it.

And we do appreciate that picture, as well.

So, it has the... To me, it has to witch's broom growth - Right, yeah.

- Up top.

- I would definitely look at those leaves.

It has the patchy yellowing of the leaves, right?

And then, too, you know, like you mentioned, I would.. You know, thinking about the brown tips for a second, you know, could that be environmental?

It could be.

- Right.

- But it also could be, you know, a symptom of, you know, asters yellow disease.

The vector for the disease is a leaf hopper.

- Yeah.

- So, you have to clean up the weeds, right?

Because the weeds serve as a host.

And yeah, you're going to have to get that plant out of there, but you're right.

I would wait and see when it starts to develop that flower.

If that flower is deformed, asters yellow disease is what that's going to be.

- And that affects, you know, coneflowers, too.

So, if you have coneflower in your yard, it could spread to those and Rudbeckias- - Okay.

- And other plants.

So, you want to contain it as quickly as possible.

- That's right.

I would agree with that.

All right, so Jerry, thank you for that picture.

But we're definitely thinking those are early signs- - Yeah.

- Of asters yellow disease.

So, thank you much.

All right.

So, Lisa, Joseph, learned so much.

- Yeah.

- We learned so much.

So, thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Remember we love to hear from you.

Send us an e-mail or letter.

The e-mail address is questions@familyplotgarden.com and the mailing address is Family Plot, 7151 Cherry Farms Road, Cordova, Tennessee 38016.

Or you can go online to FamilyPlotGarden.com.

That's all we have time for today.

Thanks for watching.

FamilyPlotGarden.com is a great resource to use for more gardening information.

We have links to Extension publications where you can learn more about all the different things we talked about today.

Be sure to join us next week for the Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]