MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's warm winter has hurt the fight to control invasive species that attack trees and plants. Common invasive insects we see each year cannot survive typical Minnesota winters.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota published a study in the journal Forests in November 2025 about the potential for fungi to slow the spread of emerald ash borer, a beetle that kills ash trees ...

The eastern spruce budworm is a native insect that munches on balsam fir, leaving some 1,100 square miles of trees defoliated or dead last year, the most in the region since 1961. A spruce budworm and ...

Pheromones from tiny beetles could help save Minnesota’s tamarack trees University of Minnesota scientists have identified the chemicals tree-killing beetles use to communicate. Those could be ...

Dear Master Gardener: What kind of nut trees can we grow in northern Minnesota? Can we grow black walnuts? Answer: Hazelnuts are hardy in northern Minnesota (zone 3). The hazelnuts you find in the can ...

The eastern spruce budworm is a native insect that munches on balsam fir, leaving some 1,100 square miles of trees defoliated or dead last year, the most in the region since 1961. A spruce budworm and ...