| I have some pines in my yard and I found today that the leaves have a lot of white dots. How can I treat this problem before it affect other plants? |
| Without actually seeing the symptoms, I can only guess at the cause: it may be pine needle scale, an insect that attaches itself to needles and sucks the sap, or perhaps a disease called needle rust. The scale insects feed only on evergreen (conifer) trees, not on deciduous trees or other garden plants. The rust needs goldenrod or asters to complete its life cycle, so if you have these in your garden, the disease will spread to them in the summer. I suggest you have your county extension agent (ph# 201/599-6162) diagnose the problem (a free service!). Once you know the cause, we can suggest a safe method of control. Good luck! |
