Polk County Social
10A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 27, 2017
Control root weevils with nematodes
R hododendrons say
spring as loudly as football
says fall. Both have fervent
fans and enemies staring
them down.
The teams that feed on
rhododendrons — called
black root weevils — are
tiny compared to the hel-
meted players at each end
of a football field, but the
damage they do aggravates
gardeners who can’t figure
out a good defense.
Wouldn’t you know it,
rhododendrons are a fa-
vored target of black vine
root weevils. However,
there are several weevil
pests, including strawberry
root weevils. All are beetles
with root-feeding larvae
and leaf-eating adults.
Most weevils emerge
from the soil from late May
through the end of June,
according to Robin Rosetta,
an entomologist with Ore-
gon State University Exten-
sion Service. The C-shaped
larvae are legless, white
with tan heads and up to a
½-inch long.
During the day, the red-
dish-brown to black beetles
hide themselves under the
moist mulch or debris
around the base of plants.
At night, the hungry adults
climb up and start chewing
on the leaves of rhododen-
drons and other woody or-
namentals, leaving notice-
able notches along the
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Your
Garden
margins.
Though they can’t fly and
move slowly, adult root
weevils walk easily through
a landscape, finding new
victims as they go. All adult
beetles are females, which
lay eggs in clusters in or on
the soil from June to Sep-
tember. After hatching, the
larvae immediately wriggle
through the soil to begin
feeding on roots. They
spend winter months in the
soil and continue to devel-
op in the spring as the soil
warms. The larvae pupate
and then emerge as adults
in late spring and start the
cycle again.
One way to check for
root weevils is to examine
woody plants for fresh
notches on leaf edges, evi-
dence of adult feeding
damage, especially in ten-
der new leaves. The notch-
ing usually begins at the
base of the plant and
moves upward during the
s u m m e r, a c c o rd i n g t o
Rosetta.
It is the root-feeding lar-
vae that do most of the
damage, often girdling
plants at the base of the
https://flic.kr/p/YBT76
Notching on rhododendrons most likely points to root
weevils.
trunk, which can lead to
death.
The least toxic method to
control weevils is to treat
them in the larval stage,
using beneficial nema-
todes, Rosetta said. There
are two optimal timings,
one in the late spring to
early summer targeting
late-stage larvae, pupae,
and adult weevils prior to
emergence. For spring con-
trol, soil temperatures need
to around 55 degrees or
above. Some springs, like
the last one, are too cold for
effective control.
A more reliable time is at
the end of summer, August
through early October,
when soil temperatures are
warm and the nematodes
target young weevil larvae.
The nematodes do not usu-
ally last through the winter.
“But the good news is
that if you do a thorough
job of control, you proba-
bly won’t have your weevil
pests back, at least for a few
years,” she said. The one
advantage we have with
root weevils is that they do
not fly as adults. We can
clean up an area and then
diligently guard our bor-
ders for intruders.”
MI TOWN
Miss Autumn arrived a bit
before her calendar date of
Sept. 22 this year, bringing a
definite change in the
weather, with cooler morn-
ings and evenings, as well as
shorter periods of daylight.
It’s that time of year when
we begin to ponder when to
close windows, turn on the
heat or throw a log in the
fireplace. It’s also getting
closer to the date when we
change from crisp cotton
sheets on the bed to deep
and snuggly flannel ones.
—
The recent rains have
helped considerably, but the
devastating and destructive
forest fires in Oregon — es-
pecially those along the Co-
lumbia River Gorge and
near Brookings — serve to
remind us that even though
the calendar says summer is
over, the dangers still defi-
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
nitely are there and will be
for quite some time. Despite
our best efforts at preven-
tion, fire can destroy our
homes and our lives. This is
a reminder that we all need
to check the batteries in our
smoke detectors — and get
detectors installed if we
don’t have them already.
They are available at reason-
able cost in our local stores.
—
I’m practically a cheer-
leader for believing in
spending money in our
communities and in Polk
County, but this time I’m en-
couraging everyone to do
something different. There
are businesses in Cascade
Locks and Corbett, and all
through that area that have
seen their sales drop dra-
matically because of the for-
est fires and closures of the
Old Columbia River High-
way and I-84. Why not take a
road trip to the Columbia
River Gorge before the win-
ter rains and snows begin
and find something to buy in
the local stores, or stop in for
lunch or dinner at some of
the restaurants along the
way. The firefighters worked
so hard to save beautiful
Multnomah Falls, and this is
a perfect time of year to visit.
—
We’re so fortunate to have
Western Oregon University
right here in MI Town, and
to be able to interact with
students of all ages on a
daily basis. However, it’s very
easy to stay within our com-
fortable routines and habits,
and not take the opportuni-
ty to find out more about
ideas and attitudes different
than those with which we’ve
become more familiar.
Thursday the Monmouth
Public Library will host a
free public event at 6 p.m.,
where we can learn more
about how to engage in
meaningful conversations
and interactions with those
from other generations. Jen-
nifer Sasser and Simeon
Dreyfuss will lead a discus-
sion on aging and intergen-
erational friendship as well
as other related topics.
Please contact Krist Obrist
at 503-751-0193 or email at
kobrist@ci.monmouth.or.us
for more information about
what promises to be a great
evening.
PEDEE NEWS
Fred and Cindy Clark had
a good visit with Cindy’s
mother, Norma, a week ago.
Cindy picked her up in
Sacramento where she lives
and they arrived in Pedee
after a very dark, very
smoky trip on highways 97
and 58. They stopped In
Dorris to visit Norma’s
grandson, his wife, and 110-
month-old son and see the
ranch they live on. Norma,
90, had broken her hip a
year ago, but with the aid of
a walker kept up with Cindy
and Karen Porter when they
went to Newport, where
they had lunch and enjoyed
great weather while shop-
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
ping on the Bay Front.
—
Paul and Diane Telfer
flew home on Friday after
serving meals with the Red
Cross in the Everglades on
the Gulf Coast near Ever-
glades City. That area had
finally gotten electricity
back after being out for over
a week and a half. Still
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
many people without
power and then, of course
,many, many people lost
their homes entirely.
—
The McBeth/Burbank
47th annual reunion was at
the Pedee Women’s Club on
Sept. 16. The almost 40 peo-
ple attending were glad to
see Dorothy and wish her a
happy 97th birthday, which
was on the 20th.
—
Darrell and Shirley Mc-
Beth invite friends and fam-
ily to celebrate their 50th
wedding anniversary with
them at an open house on
Oct. 21, 2 to 5 p.m, at the
Women’s Club. They were
married at Pedee Church on
Oct. 21, 1967. Darrell lived
in Pedee all his life, and
Shirley was from Falls City.
—
Last Thursday night,
friends and family celebrat-
ed Heidi Russell’s birthday
at the Pedee Church week-
ly potluck. Heidi was so
happy that her parents, Jon
and Linda Hovet, from
Creswell, and her brother
Isaac and two of his chil-
dren, Owen and Ava, of
Salem, were able to come.
I won’t say how old she is,
but she’s still very young
yet, from my perspective.
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Itemizer-Observer 147 SE Court St, Dallas • www.polkio.com
• AARP Foundation Tax-Aide – 503-930-7636
• After DARC — 503-623-9501
• American Cancer Society Road to Recovery
— 1-800-227-2345
• Arc of Polk County — 541-223-3261
• Ash Creek Arts Center – 971-599-3301
• Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of
Polk County Inc. — 503-623-8473
• Central School District — 503-838-0030
• City of Dallas — 503-831-3502
• City of Independence — 503-838-1212
• City of Monmouth — 503-751-0145
• Crime Victims Assistance Program — 503-623-9268
• Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce — 503-623-2564
• Dallas Fire Department — 503-831-3532
• Dallas Food Bank — 503-623-3578
• Dallas Kids, Inc. — 503-623-6419
• Dallas Police Department — 503-831-3582
• Dallas Public Library — 503-623-2633
• Dallas Retirement Village — 503-623-5581
• Dallas School District — 503-623-5594
• Delbert Hunter Arboretum — 503-623-7359
• Ella Curran Food Bank — 503-838-1276
• Falls City Arts Center — 503-559-6291
• Falls City School District — 503-787-3531
• Family Building Blocks – 503-566-2132, ext. 308.
• Friends of the Dallas Library — 503-559-3830
• Gentle House Gardens, Monmouth — 503-838-2995
• Girl Scouts of Southwest Washington and Oregon
— 1-800-338-5248
• H-2-O — 503-831-4736
HART (Horses Adaptive Riding and Therapy)
— 971-301-4278
• HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley — 503-363-1651
• Heron Pointe Assisted Living — 503-838-6850
• Independence Health and Rehabilitation
— 503-838-0001
• Independence Public Library — 503-838-1811
• Kings Valley Charter School — 541-929-2134
• Luckiamute Watershed Council — 503-837-0237
• Luckiamute Valley Charter School — 503-623-4837
• Meals on Wheels — 503-838-2084
• Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce
— 503-838-4268
• Monmouth-Independence YMCA — 503-838-4042
• Monmouth Public Library — 503-838-1932
• Northwest Human Services — 503-588-5828
• Oregon Child Development Coalition — 503-838-2745
• OSU Extension Service - Polk County — 503-623-8395
• Perrydale School District — 503-623-2040
• Polk Community Development Corporation
— 503-831-3173
• Polk County Community Emergency Response Team
— 503-623-9396
• Polk County Museum — 503-623-6251
• Polk County Public Health — 503-623-8175
• Polk County Resource Center — 503-623-8429
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District
— 503-623-9680
• Relief Nursery Classroom — 503-566-2132
• SABLE House — 503-623-6703
• SALT (Sheriff’s Auxiliary & Law Enforcement Together)
— 503-851-9366
• Salvation Army — 503-798-4783
• SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) — 503-391-8423
• Salem Health West Valley Hospital — 503-623-8301
• Victim Assistance Program-Polk Co. District Attorney’s
Office — 503-623-9268 x1444
• Willamette Valley Hospice — 503-588-3600
• WIMPEG Community Access Television — 503-837-0163
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Continued from page 9A
—
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4
• Yarning for Others — 3 to 5 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal
Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. Knitters and crocheters
gather to make clothing and accessories for those in need on
the first Wednesday of every month. 503-689-7222.
• Pickleball — 9 a.m. to noon, Roger Jordan Community
Park. Meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m.
to noon. Karen Freeman, 503-871-4172.