An arborist's focus is on landscape trees, but fruit and nut trees in the landscape garden require different pruning methods. This quick guide shows the best ways to prune fruit and nut trees for good health, appearance, and crop.

Several rodent species cause damage in vineyards and orchards. Current efforts to reduce chemicals used to control rodents are encouraging development of alternative practices, such as biological control. For several years growers in California have been installing artificial owl nest boxes to attract barn owls with the hope of reducing rodents, especially gophers, through predation. Effectiveness of barn owls as biological control of gophers in vineyards and orchards is unknown. The purpose of the study was to use growers surveys and diet analysis to assess the effectiveness of installing barn owl nest boxes to control gophers. Surveys of growers that installed artificial nest boxes reported that 40% of boxes were occupied within six months of installation. Of those growers with occupied nest boxes, however, only 23% felt that barn owls were effective in controlling gophers on their lands. The diet results indicated that barn owls most frequently prey upon gophers and voles. Barn owls prey upon both adult and juvenile gophers, and juvenile gophers were especially vulnerable during spring and summer. The findings provide little evidence that barn owls are effective in controlling gophers. With further research the approach might prove useful, but only when used in concert with other control approaches such as trapping and rodenticides.

How to rehabilitate that overgrown, untended fruit tree, or decide whether it's worth the effort.

How to prune fruit and nut trees for optimum health and productivity.

When you reduce the number of young fruit on a tree early in the season, you improve the quality of the remaining fruit at harvest time.

Learn how to plant, prune, and care for bare-root or countainer-grown fruit trees.

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an invasive, polyphagous pest that has been detected in 42 U.S. states. In 2010, it caused millions of dollars in crop damages to apple growers on the East Coast, where it arrived from Asia during the 1990s. In 2002, BMSB was reported in California; since then, it has been detected in 28 counties and is established in at least nine counties. Although this pest has not yet been found on commercial crops in the state, detections of BMSB in commercial orchards have been documented in Oregon and Washington. Proactive research in California has joined national efforts led by U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers to develop a classical biological control program for BMSB. A study is under way to determine potential non-target effects of a specialist egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), imported from Beijing, China, part of the home range of BMSB. In addition, the role of BMSB natural enemies residing in California is being assessed. A review of the recent research outlines the possible opportunities for reducing the threat BMSB poses to California.

Groundwater pumping chronically exceeds natural recharge in many agricultural regions in California. A common method of recharging groundwater — when surface water is available — is to deliberately flood an open area, allowing water to percolate into an aquifer. However, open land suitable for this type of recharge is scarce. Flooding agricultural land during fallow or dormant periods has the potential to increase groundwater recharge substantially, but this approach has not been well studied. Using data on soils, topography and crop type, we developed a spatially explicit index of the suitability for groundwater recharge of land in all agricultural regions in California. We identified 3.6 million acres of agricultural land statewide as having Excellent or Good potential for groundwater recharge. The index provides preliminary guidance about the locations where groundwater recharge on agricultural land is likely to be feasible. A variety of institutional, infrastructure and other issues must also be addressed before this practice can be implemented widely.