Maryland Grows

All gardeners have challenges in their landscapes and at some point you may turn to the internet for answers. While the internet is a great tool for researching home gardening questions, it can come with challenges. These tips are meant to help guide you through successful internet searches. Remember you can always reach out to your local University of Maryland Extension office or use Ask Extension to get answers to all your gardening questions.

The first step when I begin research is to outline the goals for what I’m trying to figure out. Are you just curious? Is the plant or pest something that you want to try and control? Are you looking for a new plant to add to your garden or landscape? Maybe you are looking for the answers to multiple questions.

Two tips for searching the internet for garden answers

Tip 1: Be specific and always add the word “Extension” or “search term + Extension + your state” to the search phrase. This is helpful for finding the best science- and research- based information. This tip can help eliminate products or services. If you know your state’s Land Grant Universities, add those names to the search box, especially when searching for garden/natural resources related issues. 

For example, if you want to research “spring blooming purple trees” you might search those words and end up frustrated without any specific answers.

If you add the word(s) Extension, or UMD Extension as in the following example, you will get results from University of Maryland:

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Tip 2: Focus on something unique about the specimen— whether it be a plant, insect, flower, seed, etc., such as colors, patterns, or antennae on an insect. Odd characteristics pinpoint search results and make searching easier and faster.

Example: If you just search the word “beetle” with no descriptor words, you will get just that, a general page about beetles.

If you add more detail like color, the results begin to get more refined:

Extra details with an oddity highlighted will get you even more specific results:

How to be a good garden detective?

Often, this goes back to being thorough and paying attention. Our landscapes and gardens often “whisper” and do not scream. If we ignore small signs, symptoms, and clues, that is when it appears that the problem happened overnight.  

Plant identification is something that many people struggle with— maybe it’s a weed, maybe a plant with an invasive tendency, or maybe it’s a plant that is bringing something positive to your landscape/natural area. Knowing exactly what the plant is is very important. We could spend a lot of time and energy reviewing botany but these tips are meant to help you build good searching habits.

Next month, we will explore different plant apps for your mobile device, but ultimately with or without a plant app, correct plant identification often relies on mature plants that are intact/complete– including the reproductive structures (flowers, fruits, or seeds). Consider the photo above. There are plenty of healthy specimen plants. Questions you can use to help guide your internet searching are:

1. What environment is the plant growing in — sun, shade, wet, dry, etc.? 
2. Is it an isolated specimen or are there several specimens of the same plant? Is it prolific and making a monoculture, as in the photo above? 
3. Is there a flower on the plant? Flowers can be very helpful for figuring out the correct plant ID. Some keys and guides focus primarily on flowers to identify plants. 
4. Is the plant mature? Are the leaves complete? Remember there are simple and compound leaves. Always look for the petiole, which is the structure/stalk that connects the leaf to the stem. Leaflets of a compound leaf will not have individual petioles. 
5. Are there seeds/fruits/nuts? Underground plant structures, like rhizomes, bulbs, or crowns?   
6. Plant ID apps can be helpful but might not be 100% correct all the time. More on this topic next month. 

Here is another view of the drainage area full of watercress. No other plants are green yet in this photo, which is another unique fact that you could potentially use in an internet search. Often non-native plants will break dormancy and begin to grow sooner which can indicate that they do not belong in this location, as is the case here. 

For insect or arthropod identification:

1.  What is the type of damage you’re seeing (chewed holes or tiny dots that indicate piercing/sucking?)
2. How many legs? 
3. Is it an adult insect? 
4. Are there many others present or just one specimen? 
5. Is there more than one type of insect? Sometimes the most obvious is not the actual problem. 
6. Are there visible wings? How many?
7. Interesting colors, patterns, etc.?

Tips for collecting specimens for photos or to take to your local Extension office:

1. Healthy and complete specimens are very important. 
2. Photos are a great addition to a specimen, but they must be in focus. 
3. Keep the specimen in the best condition that is possible. Digging the entire plant is a best practice, then wrap in a wet paper towel or newspaper and place in a plastic bag/container. Keeping the plants cool until you can get them to your Extension office or plant clinic is also helpful. If there is just one specimen and you are on public property, there is always a chance that it is exotic or protected. Please consider just taking photos in these instances. 
4. Always note any flowers/fruiting structures. 
5. Advice and suggestions from Extension professionals can only be as good as the information provided— please do your part to submit appropriate photos/specimens. 

Taking photos: 

1. Close up and complete specimens are needed. 
2. If there are flowers or fruits, always get a photo.
3. Photos of the environment are helpful to gain a better understanding of the situation. 

Remember, correct identification— whether plant, insect, tree, plant disease, etc.— is the key to managing landscapes sustainably! The most frustrating part of searching the internet is that you don’t know what you don’t know— so asking a specific question about a mystery is hard. The internet is full of wonderful information, but it also has misinformation especially when taken out of context and information may be incorrect for your specific location or growing zone. Once you begin applying some of the above tips you can streamline your search experience and have better success with finding answers from reputable sources.

By Ashley Bodkins, Senior Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Garrett County, Maryland. Read more posts by Ashley.