Trees Shrubs and Groundcovers
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Featured Publications
Problem Free Trees for Virginia Landscapes
Many of the tree species commonly planted in Virginia landscapes suffer from disease problems. Prevent this by choosing species that have a low risk of developing disease.
Problem Free Shrubs for Virginia Landscapes
Disease prevention can be as simple as choosing the right plant for the right place. This fact sheet is a guide to shrubs that experience few problems in Virginia landscapes.
Selecting Landscape Plants: Groundcovers
Landscapes are composed of plants that form ceilings, walls, and floors spaces. Groundcovers serve as attractive carpets of foliage that cloak and beautify our landscape “floors.”
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Despite hype, cicada double-brood emergence won’t affect Virginia, Virginia Tech expert says , articleStarting in late April, Virginians living south of Caroline and east of the Interstate 95 corridor should begin looking for the emergence of Brood XIX, a population of 13-year periodical cicadas. No other periodical brood is due to hatch in Virginia this year.
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- Bagworm Plants Attacked: Juniper, arborvitae, other cedars, pine, hemlock, spruce, Chinese elm, honeylocust, primarily. Also on crabapple, maple, sycamore, box elder, willow, linden, poplar, and many others.
- Bagworm Plants Attacked: Juniper, arborvitae, other cedars, pine, hemlock, spruce, Chinese elm, honeylocust, primarily. Also on crabapple, maple, sycamore, box elder, willow, linden, poplar, and many others.
- Scale Insects Scale insects are a peculiar group and look quite different from the typical insects we encounter day to day. Small, immobile, with no visible legs or antennae, they resemble individual fish scales pressed tightly against the plant on which they are feeding. There are over l50 different kinds of scales in Virginia. Many are common and serious pests of trees, shrubs, and indoor plants.
- Fall Webworm Native to North America, the fall webworm occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada. Its hosts include more than 100 species of deciduous forest, shade, and fruit trees, with preferences varying from region to region.
- Fall Webworm Native to North America, the fall webworm occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada. Its hosts include more than 100 species of deciduous forest, shade, and fruit trees, with preferences varying from region to region.
- Fusarium Wilt of Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) Fusarium wilt is a common and lethal disease of mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)1, also commonly known as silktree. In the United States this disease occurs in the east from New York southward and also in Louisiana, Arkansas and California. Fusarium wilt is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum forma specialis perniciosum. Albizia spp. are the only known host of F. oxysporum'' f.sp. ''perniciosum''. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. perniciosum colonizes and clogs the tree’s vascular (water-conducting) tissue, and interferes with the movement of plant sap. This results in relatively rapid tree death.
- Spongy Moth Management for Homeowners "Spongy moth (Lymantria dispar; formerly called gypsy moth), is an invasive pest of hardwood trees in forests and yards. The caterpillars prefer the foliage of oak and other shade trees, but also attack conifers. Spongy moth caterpillars can defoliate large trees during outbreaks, and most homeowners object to the numerous hairy caterpillars and their abundant droppings raining out of infested trees. Since its introduction to Massachusetts in 1869, spongy moth has spread throughout the northeastern US, down in the mid-Atlantic, around the Great Lakes, and into Canada. Most of Virginia is generally infested with spongy moth, but it may not cause widespread defoliation every year."
- American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) The primary and sole attribute of beautyberry, a large loosely branched shrub, is the showy display of magenta fruits in the fall.
