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Dublin City Council to spend half a million euro on a ‘weed control service’

Q: All of the magnolias in my yard have cottony white growths on a lot of the branches that seem to be dripping a liquid. I saw this on one tree last summer, but this year it is covering all of my magnolias. Is this a disease that will harm these trees? A: What you are seeing are insects called magnolia scale. You are seeing the female nymphs of these insects, which resulted from eggs produced and hatched last summer. The nymphs were hard to notice on branches while they were small and darker in color throughout the winter. These insects are now larger, lighter in color and covered in a white, waxy coating. These insects will soon become mature and lay eggs later this summer and the process will begin again on your magnolias. Magnolia scale insects insert their piercing/sucking mouth parts into the branches to feed on plant sap. A large loss of sap from a heavy scale infestation can cause leaf yellowing and loss, branch dieback and canopy dieback. The liquid that you are seeing is honeydew, a waste product excreted by these insects as they feed on the sap from the trees. Bees, flies, ants and other insects will eventually be attracted to the dripping honeydew. Although an application of a horticultural oil will kill the crawler stage of these scale insects soon after they hatch, it is difficult to time applications to make contact with this stage of the insects. As an alternative, a single application of an insecticide containing imidacloprid (Merit) to the soil around the trees will kill these insects before they have a chance to overwinter as nymphs. Make this application in mid-September. Q: The past few years my perennial beds have become infested with a yellow flowering weed early in the spring. What is this weed and how can I control it? A: The weed is cressleaf groundsel, or butterweed (Packers glabella). This weed, which is in the Aster family, seems to have spread into Ohio landscapes from neighboring farm fields and other areas that aren’t mowed. The yellow flowers are striking, but the plant is prolific and its size can easily crowd out more-desirable plants. It is a winter annual plant, which means that seeds germinate in the fall and the plant grows in the winter and then flowers in spring. Seeds of this plant were likely blown into your landscape from nearby fields or perhaps spread by birds. The easiest way to mange this weed is to prevent it from going to seed by pulling it by hand or, if necessary, treating it with a contact herbicide containing glyphosate. Then on a warm day next winter, scout your beds for any young seedlings of this plant and pull them before they have a chance to develop.

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL is seeking to award a contract for a weed control service worth €500,000.

The contractor will be required to spray roads, laneways, footways, medians and other areas under the remit of the council – covering 1,051km of roads and 94km of laneways across the capital.

There are also 21,500 trees on public roadways/footpaths and the council says it reserves the right to terminate the agreement at any time if the delivery of the service is not being provided at an acceptable level.

Furthermore, the council will act outside of the agreement if a more advantageous offer arises.

It said: “Dublin City Council reserves the right to operate outside of the framework agreement at its discretion; particularly should it become apparent that doing so would offer greater value for money or if a more environmentally friendly product or mechanism of application becomes available.”

The contractor must provide “total weed control” along the back of footways, along the side of roadways, around trees and street furniture, and all traffic islands which pedestrians use.

“The service must consist of a general application of herbicide early in the growing season, followed by at least two subsequent inspection visits with follow-up treatments as required,” it said.

The “control of weeds” should take place between April and June, and some areas may require a second or third treatment in August or September.

Even though herbicides will be sprayed, care must be taken that damage is not done to trees and shrubs that are in the same areas as the weeds.

No payment will be made until the first inspection conducted by Dublin City Council is passed.

While the initial contract is for one year, there will be the potential to renew the deal for 2020.

The deadline to respond is 22 January.

Credit: www.thejournal.ie

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