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If your lilacs started looking rough seemingly overnight this summer — leaves turning yellow, developing brown blotchy spots, curling, or dropping well before fall — you are not imagining it and you are not alone. Lilac fungal disease is a real and growing problem across Becker County, and in the right weather conditions it can move through a plant faster than most homeowners expect.
Here is what is actually happening, why it spreads so fast, and why it frequently gets blamed on something it is not.
What Is Causing the Damage?
The primary culprit in Minnesota is a fungal disease called Lilac Leaf Spot, caused by Pseudocercospora or Septoria fungi. It is a relatively new disease in our region that has been spreading across the Midwest and has now established itself as a recurring problem in Minnesota landscapes.
According to the University of Minnesota Extension, symptoms typically appear from July through September. Leaves begin to yellow, then develop brown blocky spots that grow larger and merge together. Affected leaves twist, curl, and drop from the plant well before normal fall leaf drop occurs. In a bad year, a lilac can lose a significant portion of its foliage by midsummer.
There is also Powdery Mildew — a different fungal issue that shows up as a grayish-white dusty coating on leaf surfaces, as if the plant were dusted with flour. Powdery mildew is common on lilacs in Minnesota and is mostly cosmetic, but in a severe outbreak it...
If you own lakeshore property in the Detroit Lakes area, shoreline erosion is not a hypothetical problem — it is something you can see happening season after season. Wave action, boat wakes, ice heave, and spring snowmelt runoff are relentless forces working against your bank. Riprap is one of the most effective and time-tested tools available for stopping that erosion and protecting both your property and the water quality of the lake.
Here is what you need to know about riprap — what it is, why it works, and why maintaining it matters as much as installing it correctly in the first place.
What Is Riprap?
Riprap is a layer of large natural rock — typically ranging from 6 to 30 inches in diameter — placed along a shoreline to absorb and deflect the energy of moving water. Unlike a retaining wall, which is a rigid vertical structure, riprap works by distributing the force of wave action across a sloped surface of interlocking stones. Water loses its energy as it moves through and around the rocks rather than hitting a hard surface and rebounding.
When installed correctly, riprap sits on a bed of filter fabric, crushed rock, or gravel that prevents the fine soil underneath from washing out through the gaps. The stone layer above protects the bank. The filter layer below protects the stone. Both layers working together is what gives a properly...
One of the most common questions we hear from Detroit Lakes homeowners right now is a simple one: "How do I even know if I have an ash tree?"
It is the right question to ask. Emerald Ash Borer is confirmed in counties surrounding Becker County and moving our direction. Before you can decide whether to treat and protect your trees — or whether EAB is even a concern for your property — you need to know what you have. Here is exactly how to tell.
The Three Things That Identify an Ash Tree
Ash trees have three specific characteristics that, when you see all three together, confirm what you are looking at. You do not need any tools or expertise — just your eyes and a few minutes in your yard.
1. Opposite Branching
Look at how the branches grow off the main limb. On an ash tree, branches grow directly across from each other in matched pairs — one on the left, one on the right, at the same point on the stem. This is called opposite branching and is one of the most reliable identifiers. Most common trees in Minnesota — oak, maple, basswood — have alternating branches that stagger up the stem. Ash does not.
2. Compound Leaves
An ash leaf is not a single leaf — it is a group of individual leaflets joined along a central stalk, which then attaches to the branch. Each stalk carries five to nine leaflets depending on the...
If you have ash trees on your property here in the Detroit Lakes area, there is a conversation we need to have right now. Emerald Ash Borer has been confirmed in counties surrounding Becker County and is moving northward. The window to protect your trees is open — but it will not stay open forever.
What Is Emerald Ash Borer?
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is a highly destructive invasive beetle originally from Asia. Since arriving in the United States in 2002, it has killed tens of millions of ash trees across the country. Minnesota has the highest volume of ash trees in the entire United States — which means the stakes here are particularly high.
The damage is done by the larvae. After adult beetles lay eggs in the bark, the larvae burrow into the tree and feed on the inner tissue that carries water and nutrients. As those feeding tunnels accumulate, the tree is gradually starved. Once symptoms become visible, an untreated tree typically dies within one to three years.
EAB attacks all species of North American ash. Once an ash tree is attacked by EAB, it will be killed if it is not protected.
University of Minnesota Extension — Emerald Ash Borer
How to Tell If You Have an Ash Tree
Before you can protect your trees, you need to know what you have. Ash trees have three identifying characteristics:
Opposite branching — branches grow...
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