Yesterday while reading the Sunday papers, I came across an article on potential herbicide damage in landscape.  I was a little surprised that this news showed up here but I get the problem must have gotten worse over the past  month.   The story goes that a new herbicide, Imprelis™  which is produced by DuPont, may have cause a detrimental damage to conifers, primarily Norway Spruce and White Pine.  This problems has been noted in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and a bunch or other states in the northeast and midwest.  (See the story in New York Times)

Briefly, Imprelis™  is a selective broadleaf herbicide introduced into the market this spring.  This product is used by commercial landscapers.  Damage symptoms include curling of leaves/needles, severe browning and dieback.  The folks at Michigan State University Extension put our a pretty good factsheet on this problem and some suggestion on how to care for affected plants.  http://news.msue.msu.edu/news/article/what_to_do_with_imprelis_affected_trees

We did not get any reports of these sorts of damage in Texas.  My theory is that (1) Imprelis ™ is not used as much in Texas. (2) we do not have lots of Norway Spruce or White Pine.   The caveat is that there is not much known on the effect of this herbicide on other conifers and plants.  If you come across mysterious declining or trees showing dieback (particularly pines) in landscapes that was treated with Imprelis™, shoot me an email at plantclinic at ag.tamu.edu