Garden, Pest & Pollen Season Watch

Why this is recommended

A quarantine that bans moving firewood or a plant, a tick season starting early, a water restriction with fines or a free tree giveaway are all announced on pages nobody visits. One avoided fine or lost season pays for the year.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The 80 million US households that garden or keep a lawn, and everyone with seasonal allergies or kids playing in the yard.

When it runs

Extension offices and state agriculture departments post during the week; members plan the yard on Saturday morning

Scope

Extension service frost and planting guidance by region; USDA APHIS and state quarantines for spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer, box tree moth, fire ants and other invasive pests; tick, mosquito, West Nile, Lyme and EEE alerts; seed, plant, soil, mulch and pesticide recalls; extreme pollen forecasts for metros over 500,000; water restrictions with fines; free tree, plant, rain-barrel and compost programs; March to November

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Frost and planting windows by region, invasive pest quarantines and reporting rules, tick and mosquito disease alerts, plant and seed recalls, pollen surges, water restrictions and free plant, tree and compost programs, with the region or state first in the title.

Track US home gardening and outdoor conditions. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: first and last frost outlooks and planting-window guidance by region from extension services; new or expanded quarantines and reporting rules for spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer, box tree moth, fire ants and other invasive pests; tick, mosquito, West Nile, Lyme and EEE alerts from state health departments; recalls or contamination notices for seeds, plants, soil, mulch or pesticides; extreme pollen forecasts for metros over 500,000; water restrictions with fines; and free or rebated tree, plant, rain-barrel and compost programs. Prefer USDA APHIS, state agriculture and health departments, extension offices, utilities and established local reporting; ignore product marketing. Put the state or region first in the title. Use high severity for a new quarantine, a disease alert with confirmed human cases, or a restriction with fines. Return no more than 6 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what changed, who it affects, what to do, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.