Month-by-month lists of common plant diseases, pests, and other problems you may encounter in North Carolina yards and gardens.
Back to BOLO list of months.Turfgrasses
Dollar spot (Kentucky bluegrass/ryegrass)
Fairy ring (all turfgrasses)
Large patch (bermudagrass/zoysiagrass/centipedegrass/St. Augustinegrass)
Leaf spot caused by Bipolaris/Drechslera (bluegrasses/bermudagrass)
Red thread (Kentucky bluegrass/fescue/ryegrass)
Rust (Kentucky bluegrass/fescue/St. Augustinegrass/zoysiagrass)
Spring dead spot (bermudagrass/zoysiagrass)Woody Ornamentals
General: Slime mold on mulch in landscape beds
Multiple hosts: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, Botryosphaeria dieback, sooty mold, improper planting, branch pruning by squirrels, sapsucker injury, cold injury (loose bark on stems), frost injury to new growth
Multiple shrub species: root-knot nematodes
Arborvitae: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot
Azalea: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, Exobasidium leaf gall, Phomopsis dieback, stunt nematode
Black cherry: black knot
Boxwood: Phytophthora root rot, boxwood blight, nematodes (lesion, root-knot, spiral), adult boxwood leafminers swarming (Cecidomyiidae: Monarthropalpus flavus)
Camellia: camellia petal blight, Exobasidium leaf gall, ring spot & flower break, Phytophthora root rot, freeze injury
Cherry-laurel: shot-hole, Botryosphaeria canker/dieback
Crabapple: fire blight, powdery mildew
Dogwood, flowering: spot anthracnose on bracts
English Ivy: anthracnose, bacterial leaf spot
Euonymus: powdery mildew
Gardenia: cold injury, root-knot nematode, Phytophthora root rot
Indian hawthorn: Entomosporium leaf spot
Japanese holly: black root rot, Armillaria root rot
Junipers: Phytophthora root rot (except Eastern red cedar), Armillaria root rot, cedar-apple rust and cedar-quince rust sporulating (especially on Eastern red cedar), Annosum root rot, Kabatina tip blight
Leyland cypress: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, Cypress (Seiridium) canker, Botryosphaeria canker/dieback, Passalora needle blight, algae on foliage
Loropetalum: bacterial gall (knot), Cercospora (Pseudocercospora) leaf spot
Pear, ornamental: fire blight
Red-tip photinia: Entomosporium leaf spot
Rhododendron: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, Exobasidium leaf gall, Botryosphaeria canker/dieback
Rose: Armillaria root rot, common canker, Botrytis canker, crown gall, black spot, Cercospora (Rosisphaerella) leaf spot, powdery mildew, rose rosette, rose mosaic
Magnolia, Southern: algal leaf spot, normal shedding of oldest leaves
Spruce: Stigmina needle blightHerbaceous Ornamentals (Perennials, Bedding Plants)
Multiple hosts: Overfertilization, Sclerotinia stem rot on perennials
Daylily: leaf streak
Hollyhock: rust
Iris: Heterosporium (Cladosporium) leaf spot, bacterial soft rot
Liriope: anthracnose on leaf tips, Fusarium crown rot
Oxalis: rust
Pachysandra: Volutella blight
Pansy/viola: Botrytis blight
Rudbeckia: Septoria leaf spot
Snapdragon: Sclerotinia stem rot (white mold)Fruits & Nuts
Blackberry: cane blight, rust diseases, virus diseases
Cherry and plum: black knot
Fig: cold injury
Peach: leaf curl, brown rot (blossom/twig phase)
Pear: fire blightVegetables & Herb
Multiple hosts: Overfertilization, Pythium root rot and damping offCole crops: Sclerotinia white mold
Arthropods of the General Landscape
Ground-nesting solitary bees (typically Andrenidae & Colletidae)
Wheel bugs (nymphs)
Eastern subterranean termite swarmers (Reticulitermes flavipes)
May beetles (Phyllophaga spp.; typically at lights)
Hoplia scarab beetles mass emerging
Clover mites (Bryobia spp.) entering homes
White-margined burrower bug (Sehirus cinctus) nymphs (harmless, but can be found in large numbers; associated with mint seeds)Arthropods Associated with Multiple Plants
Fall cankerworms (larvae)
Eastern tent caterpillars (larvae & tents; typically on rosaceous trees)
Bagworms (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis; bags often containing eggs)
Cottony scales (Pulvinaria spp. especially cottony camellia scale, P. floccifera)
