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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Green Mulch From Invasives Offers Many Benefits, W. John Hayden
Green Mulch From Invasives Offers Many Benefits, W. John Hayden
Biology Faculty Publications
For the past several years, I’ve been clipping leafy branchlets of autumn olive for direct use as green mulch in my vegetable garden. In essence, I clip the shoots into segments ranging from 4 to 10 inches long, gathering the freshly chopped mulch into a wheelbarrow. I like to emphasize the youngest and leafiest stems, but since I am also interested in reducing the exotic plant’s biomass, I also clip woody stems up to a half inch in diameter. I then place the coarse mulch, leaves, young stems, and chopped woody branchlets, around my vegetable plants. I install the fresh …
Frozen Beetle Treats Are Environmentally Friendly, W. John Hayden
Frozen Beetle Treats Are Environmentally Friendly, W. John Hayden
Biology Faculty Publications
At my rural household, the most vexatious insect pest has got to be the ubiquitous Japanese beetle. Native to Japan, these pests have infested most of eastern North America, with isolated infestations appearing in some western states. One reason that Japanese beetles are so bad is that they deliver a double-whammy: the larvae (grubs) consume roots and are particularly destructive of turf and pasture grasses while the adults consume leaves and flowers of a wide variety of plants, leaving behind skeletonized versions of the plant parts consumed.