From an email today from UMass Extension:

"Time-sensitive Updates from UMass Extension - 3/23/12

Since the next issue of the Landscape Message is not until next week, here are several time-sensitive updates you should be aware of.

Warm Weather and White Grub Management

With the unseasonably warm weather we have experienced this month, many are concerned about white grub development. Furthermore, some are seeing turf damage already and are unsure about what to do. For answers to some of the most common grub questions that we have received so far this season, go to

http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/news/warm-weather-and-white-grub-management.

Pachysandra Identified as Boxwood Blight Host

Plant pathologists at The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station recently identified Pachysandra terminalis (common names: pachysandra, Japanese spurge) as a new host of Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum, the fungus that causes Boxwood Blight. Read more at http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?Q=500388&A=3756.

Preemergence crabgrass control

If you have the luxury of flexibility, we are still early for application. Forsythia, however, is in full bloom and if you are in a situation where you cannot afford to be late you can make your applications now. If you choose a split-application approach you can apply your first half now. In any event, monitoring will have to be stepped-up this year in late spring/early summer to assess the success of any preemergence applications during this unusual season. Stay tuned for more detailed information on annual grassy weed control coming next week.

Ellen Weeks

UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program

French Hall

230 Stockbridge Rd.

Amherst, MA 01003

(413) 545-0895

Fax. (413) 577-1620

http://www.umassgreeninfo.org";

Claire