 Plant Diseases in Arkansas
Landscape Sanitation
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Audio/Video Script:
Dr. Steve Vann
Extension Urban Plant Pathologist
[Dr. Vann] As spring approaches, many folks are interested in getting started
in the garden. However, there are quite a few plant disease organisms that are
also interested in getting started in the garden. But there are quite a few
things that we can do to help minimize those plant diseases as they become
uninvited guests into our garden.
Some of the more common diseases that we see each and every year are powdery
mildew, black spot and several anthracnose diseases on our woody ornamentals.
[Dr. Vann shows dead leaves] And many people often times will underestimate the significance of all that dead
plant debris that's underneath our plants in the landscape. But in actuality
this debris is very important in many cases for starting those diseases again on
specific ornamental plants during the growing season.
So by doing quite a bit of sanitation around the garden, as spring
approaches, that can go a long way in preventing many of these common diseases.
[Video showing plant with powdery mildew] For example, powdery mildew has developed the ability to actually survive on
dead leaves during the winter time. [Picture of leaves with powdery mildew] And as you can see here from this particular
photograph, powdery mildew produces very small fruiting bodies on those dead
leaves that are lying on the ground.
[Picture of dead leaves on the ground] So many of these organisms are actually lying in wait for the right
environmental conditions, particularly quite a bit of rainfall during the
spring, [Picture of a dead diseased leaf] as the temperatures warm up into the 60's or 70's,
[Dr. Vann] many of these
organisms come out of hibernation so to speak, and can pose quite a bit of
problems.
[Picture of a woman raking leaves] So by just going in and doing a little cleanup, raking those leaves up,
collecting them and if your community allows it, [Picture of burning leaves] burn those leaves or put them
on the street for the garbage collector. [Picture of bagged leaves on a street
curb]
It's also helpful to try to prune out all the dead plant material on many of
our woody shrubs that are in the landscape. [Picture of a woman pruning shrubs] So by doing this, we can actually
eliminate sources for these disease organisms every year.
[Dr. Vann] It's much easier and better to prevent many of our plant diseases than it is
to eradicate them.
[Narrator] To learn more, contact your county extension agent and follow
the links in this section.
Related Links
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Plant Diseases
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