In addition to insects, Dr. Carol Sutherland fills her office with leaves, twigs, branches and sections of tree trunks. For her, this woody miscellanea can explain why a tree looks and performs the way it does. If you want insight on what kind of life is playing out in and on your trees, head to Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) Lush and Lean workshop on Thursday, April 4th. Bring in a bug (alive or dead) in a glass bottle with a lid, along with your contact information.
Dr. Sutherland’s most recent “show and tell” was in Tucumcari, New Mexico, where ash trees had fallen prey to ash twig beetles. The end result of continuous attacks by the beetles was canopy dieback of the trees.
“It’s easy to see when the leaves at the end of a branch wither but by then the twig beetles are attacking new twig growth for the next round of reproduction,” she explains. “They live and reproduce under the bark, so if you don’t know how and where to look for these pests, you might not be the wiser to them.”
Sutherland travels the state, especially in the spring, to give presentations featuring common pests of ornamental trees and shrubs, tips on identification, evidence of infestation and best management practices to Master Gardeners, tree care professionals, and the general public. “My vehicle is my office and I have way more twigs and branches in there,” she laughed.
Sutherland will be in Las Cruces with her presentation “Bugs in your Landscape? Who’s Who & What’s What?” She’ll play detective to insects you might encounter during your weeding and yard maintenance, and how to fight them off especially if they’re doing damage.
“Not all insects are bad,” she stresses. “Every spring people come to me and say they’ve never seen a certain new insect before.” Sutherland explains, “but learning what these unknowns are is the start to knowing whether they are damaging your plants or not.”
All Lush and Lean Workshops are free and open to the public. They are held Thursday evenings at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, 200 E. Picacho Ave., in the Roadrunner Room from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. See the complete list of speakers and Lush and Lean dates at www.las-cruces.org/WaterConservation
or www.facebook.com/cityoflascruces.
Submitted by Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3500 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides GAS – WATER – WASTEWATER – SOLID WASTE services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces residents and businesses.