Crape myrtles are commonly attacked by crape myrtle aphids. This often leads to a black fungus, called sooty mold, forming on leaves and branches in mid- to late summer. Control these insects by ...

Garden columnist Dan Gill answers readers' questions each week. To send a question, email Gill at [email protected]. My problem is with black stuff on my crape myrtles' leaves and bark. It ...

Garden columnist Dan Gill answers readers' questions each week. To send a question, email Gill at [email protected]. About a year ago, we redid our flowerbeds and added three crape myrtle trees.

My "Tonto" crape myrtles stay covered with aphids and black mildew. I've tried every product available, and none keeps the aphids away for more than two weeks. The trees are close to our house, which ...

Crape myrtles are beginning to bloom now in south Louisiana, and they’ll continue into September. So LSU horticulturist Dan Gill has some suggestions for caring for your crape myrtles throughout the ...

Q: Last year my crape myrtles, as well as the plants beneath them, had black sooty mold on their leaves and stems. I suspect it was crape myrtle aphids or scale. I’ve read in your latest book that ...

Q: I have a small crape myrtle tree with leaves that were constantly wet this year. The ground and plants underneath were always wet. Now that the leaves are gone. I can see the branches are also wet.

Q: My husband made sure I read your column telling us never to top our crape myrtles. However, ours had aphids last summer, stopped growing and looks terrible. Short of digging it up, can we not just ...

DEAR NEIL: My husband made sure I read your column telling us never to top our crape myrtles. However, ours had aphids last summer, stopped growing and looks terrible. Short of digging it up, can we ...

I see orange crystals on one of my cucumbers. Each crystal is a little larger than a poppy seed. What is this? Other than a few dead leaves, the plants look healthy and produce lots of cucumbers.

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Adding to our list of non-native pests is a newcomer that attacks crepe myrtles. It is called the Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale (CMBS). The new pest is originally from China, Japan, ...