Not sure about you, but summer felt pretty short this year. You may not be ready to turn towards fall but autumn does officially arrive on September 22. Your garden may even take a little bit of time to also show signs of the turning season but this newsletter is here to help you prepare for it with information about general garden care and fruit tree tips. Mayor Franklin, along with other mayors and Governor Inslee, proclaimed September 2022 as Puget Sound Starts Here month. Throughout the month, the City of Everett will use social media to highlight how to strengthen stewardship of our shared watershed and encourage all to take action to improve the health of Puget Sound. There are so many easy ways that you can be a part of the solution to water pollution.

Fruit tree pests

If your apples and pears hosted some unwelcome visitors this year, it would be a good idea to do a few things to prevent their coming back next year.
Apple scab and pear scab are fungal diseases that are encouraged by wet and warm springs like we had this year. You might have noticed watery looking spots that later turned dark on the leaves. The leaves might have been distorted. As the fruit matured, it would have been misshapen and had brown, roughened or corky spots which might have developed deep cracks. On pear, symptoms can also appear on the twigs.
The scab fungus spores overwinter in fallen tree debris. To keep scab from returning next year, rake and destroy (do not compost) fallen leaves or cover them with soil. You can also apply nitrogen to the fallen leaves to enhance decomposition.
Other unwelcome visitors are the apple maggot and the codling moth. You might have harvested apples and pears that had a tunnel in them, perhaps a rotten looking core. In many cases the entire fruit is ruined and can’t be eaten.
The females of the apple maggot and codling moth lay eggs on the young apples and the larvae eat their way into the fruit. The apple maggot doesn’t infect pears, but the codling moth does.
The larvae eat and grow inside the fruit, tunnel their way out of it and then pupate on the ground beneath the tree during the winter months.
 
Cleaning up all dropped fruit, leaves and tree debris off the ground and destroying infested fruit will help curtail these pests. Never compost the infected fruit. Another helpful action is to wrap the tree trunk with corrugated cardboard or burlap to trap migrating larvae. Then check inside the wrap every so often and remove any cocoons you find and destroy them.
WSU Extension Hortsense has great advice on how to deal with these problems and others you may encounter in your garden.
Article by Laura Cooper, WSU Snohomish County Master Gardener

September is Puget Sound Starts Here month

It takes just three small changes to keep pollution out of our creeks, lakes, rivers and Puget Sound. Our small actions add up to a BIG difference for Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and marine life!
 
When it rains, pollution from cars wash into storm drains, and then straight into local streams, lakes, rivers, and Puget Sound. Pollutants like oil, car wash soaps and chemicals, and bits of tire dust are bad for water quality and harm people and wildlife, like salmon and orcas, that depend on clean water to survive.

TIRE MAINTENANCE: Proper tire maintenance will extend the life of your tires and save you money.

• Keep tires properly inflated so that they will wear down more slowly. Check your tire pressure once per month, either with your own pressure gauge or at a gas station air pump. You can find the recommended tire pressure in your owner’s manual, stamped on the tire itself, or on a sticker inside the driver’s side door.
• Get your tire alignment checked and rotate tires according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Proper alignment and regular rotation prevent uneven wear on your tires, reducing the amount of tire particles that wear off as you drive.
• Car tires have many chemicals that help protect them from damage. As we drive, the tires wear down, leaving tiny bits of tire behind on our roads. The chemicals in the tire bits are toxic to fish. When it rains, the runoff picks up the tire bits and carries them down storm drains and into our waterways.

• Take your car to a commercial car wash. Commercial car washes, both tunnels and bays, are required to treat their dirty wash water.
• If using a commercial car wash isn’t an option, wash your car in a grassy area. The grass and soil will soak up the wash water, preventing it from running down the street into a storm drain.
• When you wash your car, the rinse water contains harmful pollutants like oil, grease, heavy metals and soaps. If you wash your car on the street or in your driveway, the pollutants run on the street and into the storm drain, and then flow untreated into our local creeks, lakes, rivers and Puget Sound. That’s why in Everett it’s illegal to let that soapy water enter a storm drain.

• Take these steps to maintain the health of your vehicle and the environment:
• Check your vehicle for leaks regularly and get them fixed promptly. Learn how to diagnose or fix a leak.
• Always dispose of used motor oil properly by bringing it to your local auto shop for recycling. Call or visit 1-800-RECYCLE to find a location near you.
• Use ground cloths or drip pans if you find a leak or are doing engine work. Clean up spills immediately.
• Even a small oil leak can have a big impact on your car and our creeks, lakes, rivers, and Puget Sound. Every drop on your driveway means a shorter lifespan for your car. Plus, oil and other petroleum products are toxic to people, wildlife, and plants.