Maybe gardeners aren’t busy in Minnesota or Iowa during the winter, but for gardeners living in the Mojave Desert, it is probably our busiest time of year. I’m asked about spraying dormant oils on ...

Life cycles of some pests are complex, with multiple steps between egg and adult or spore and fruiting body and perhaps periods of dormancy. The damage pests do to our gardens is usually associated ...

Q: You seem to be a “fan” of recommending spraying dormant oil as a pesticide. Is this product good to spray on most trees and shrubs that typically grow around here? — M.C., Albuquerque A: I don’t ...

You know that commercial where people are grilling at a neighborhood party? They are all in shorts and T-shirts. Then a neighbor shows up wearing a heavy winter coat, fleece hat with the earflaps down ...

You’ve no doubt heard of “dormant spraying,” but are you clear on the advantages of this method of pre-empting pests and diseases that might survive the winter, just waiting to attack your plants next ...

If you have a fruit tree, you know that gardeners are not the only ones who enjoy the bounty of the harvest. There are many pests — such as scales, aphids and mites — that feast on the tender plant ...

Winter in the garden means it’s time to get out the dormant spray. If your fruit trees and garden produced more disease than fruit and flowers this year, you should think about using a preventive ...

You should have applied the most important insect spray of the year — dormant oil sprays — during the winter. Why then? Because that’s when insects susceptible to these sprays are most vulnerable. Why ...