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
Fairy ring (all turfgrasses)
Large patch (bermudagrass/zoysiagrass/centipedegrass/St. Augustinegrass)
Leaf spot caused by Bipolaris/Drechslera (bluegrasses/bermudagrass)
Microdochium patch (Kentucky bluegrass/bermudagrass)
Red thread (Kentucky bluegrass/fescue/ryegrass)
Rust (Kentucky bluegrass/fescue/St. Augustinegrass/zoysiagrass)
Spring dead spot (bermudagrass/zoysiagrass)
Yellow patch (fescue/Kentucky bluegrass/ryegrass)Woody Ornamentals
Multiple hosts: cold injury (split and loose bark on stems), frost injury to new growth, winter injury of evergreens, Botryosphaeria canker/dieback, Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, sooty mold, improper planting, branch pruning by squirrels, sapsucker injury
Multiple shrub species: root-knot nematodes
Arborvitae: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot
Azalea: Phytophthora root rot, Armillaria root rot, Phomopsis dieback, stunt nematode
Black cherry: black knot
Black gum: felt fungus (Septobasidium)
Boxwood: Phytophthora root rot, boxwood blight, nematodes (lesion, root-knot, spiral)
Camellia: camellia petal blight, ring spot & flower break, freeze injury
Cherry-laurel: shot-hole, Botryosphaeria canker/dieback
English Ivy: anthracnose, bacterial leaf spot
Euonymus: powdery mildew
Gardenia: cold injury, Phytophthora root rot
Hollies: felt fungus (Septobasidium)
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 and especially the latter)
Ligustrum (privet): Cercospora (Pseudocercospora) leaf spot
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
Magnolia, Southern: algal leaf spot
Oak: felt fungus (Septobasidium)
Red-tip photinia: Entomosporium leaf spot
Rose: Armillaria root rot, common canker, Botrytis canker, crown gall, black spot, rose rosette
Herbaceous Ornamentals (perennials, bedding plants)
Liriope: anthracnose on leaf tips and secondary leaf spots on last year’s foliage, Fusarium crown rot
Pachysandra: Volutella blight
Pansy/viola: nutrient deficiency, Botrytis blight, black root rot, Pythium root rot, Cercospora leaf spotFruits & Nuts
Blackberry: Cane blight
Cherry and plum: black knot
Peach: leaf curl, brown rot (blossom/twig phase)Vegetables & Herbs
Cole crops: Sclerotinia white moldOnion: Botrytis leaf blight
Arthropods of the General Landscape
Ground-nesting solitary bees (typically Andrenidae & Colletidae)
Queen social wasps (Vespidae: paper wasps, yellowjackets, hornets) becoming active, looking for nest sites
Clover mites (Bryobia sp.) invading homes
Monkey beetles (Hoplia trivialis) in yards and homes
Eastern subterranean termite swarmers (Reticulitermes flavipes)
White-margined burrower bugs (Sehirus cinctus)Arthropods Associated with Multiple Plants
Fall cankerworms (larvae & adults)
Bagworms (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis; bags often containing eggs)
