I don't spray for anything unless there is a problem in which case I choose the least toxic methods first to see if they work. Over the years I have come to realize certain plants in my yard stand no chance without protection such as curcubits. Stink bugs, cuke beetles and squash vine borers all want to decimate them. Most every other plant type I grow does fine with no protection. Every gardener's yard/experience is different. My personal advice is this: Do nothing for anything until/unless there is a problem. Just because someone else has pest/disease problems with a particular plant type doesn't mean you will. On the other hand if you have grown a plant type for years and each year the same pest/disease bothers it greatly then a preventative control is probably justified. I certainly won't judge you for using one. If you must use harsh, broad spectrum killers so be it, but please try to start with the least toxic remedy and work your way to more toxic if it doesn't offer enough control rather than start with the nuclear option ;) As a side note, before you go the nuclear route, consider the fate of the young, the pets, the pregnant etc. who are much more susceptible to health problems from these things than healthy adults are. Sometimes a plant is just so prone to problems in a particular area it's worth asking oneself if it's really all that important to grow that plant instead of something else. I love corn, but don't grow any. I can't without the pesticides because I live in the corn belt and therefore corn pests like the corn rootworm are massively present. Therefore I choose to not grow corn. I used to think a weed free lawn was uber important. I hired a service to nuke the weeds in my lawn. At the age of 7 my golden retriever who loved to eat grass died of cancer. I later learned one of the herbicides used on my lawn was virtually non toxic to everything except dogs. With dogs it dramatically increased the rate of cancer. I will never forgive myself. Don't find yourself in my shoes. Not being judgmental, just giving an example.

Marknmt, As one whose sprayed quite a bit of picloram (Tordon) I agree it is quite powerful. I've sprayed it on the bark of thorny locust and killed whole trees. I know its been in the press in America and the UK lately, but in spite of all the press, I think the risks of picloram tainted manure are a bit trumped up. I've been in agriculture all my life in one way or another. For a few years I owned a hay crew (square bales). In this area, people rarely apply fertilizer to hay ground, even less, pesticides. There simply isn't enough margin in hay ground to justify the expense. Even if they did apply a carry over product like picloram (and around here it would be very rare) the carry over and diluted effect probably wouldn't harm the trees. In spite of what the literature says, it only lasts a year (I've seen broad leaf crops germinate a year after it was applied). The same applies to tainted grass clippings. I've heard people warn against chemically laced clippings. However, I have a sign in front of my house requesting clippings, leaves, and chipped wood. For years I've put grass clippings around my garden crops, including tomatoes. I've never noticed anything but excessive vigor from this type of mulch. I'm confident these clippings are from lawns loaded with herbicide residues because so many lawns around here picture perfect. I think the reason they are innocuous to my tomatoes is that most of these herbicides bind to the soil and are rendered ineffective by the time they reach the roots. Mark, I hope I haven't come on too strong here, but my experience simply doesn't mesh with the admonitions. I understand others may have different experiences. Ryan, You bring up some good points. I've also read not to fertilize newly planted trees. However, nurseries and commercial orchards frequently fertigate (even the first year) to get a jump on growth. I think this could be especially relevant to your situation where the soil seems to be poor. In terms of specific Miracle Grow recommendations, I can't give you any. Only that your soil seems to be lacking something, so as an immediate measure, I would add a complete fertilizer (NPK plus trace minerals). Admittedly this is a shotgun approach, but without a soil test, I know of no other way. There is a lady from TN on the Nafex fruit group who complains about how poor her soil is. Maybe her experience has unjustifiably biased me, but I can't help thinking of her experience when I see your pics. But in all candidness, I'm only throwing educated guesses at your problem, as anyone on this list can do. It's a bit early for any serious pest control. Your extension is doing you a disservice to recommend Malathion for any serious pest control. You'll find some university extensions are well tuned to the needs of fruit trees. Others are merely a chapter ahead of you in the most basic cultural fruit practices. It's possible your peach tree could fruit next year. In that case, I would post more specific pest control questions this fall, or winter. Regarding the manure. I would just call around to local stables. There is one about 2 miles from me. They have more manure than they can get rid of and stack it in piles. Although I've not used their manure (because my mulch sign works so well for me) I have used other stable manure. I've also used loads of composted dead pigs. The only problem I've observed is that if the stable waste is extremely hot, it produces a lot of vegetative growth at the expense of fruit.

Thanks for the responses to date. So it seems that it is surely a fungus and, regardless of the specific type, I would need some sort of fungicide. Cornmeal has been suggested, and that's a good thing, because where I live (Ontario, Canada), there appears to be NO lawn fungicides available at big box stores or nurseries. The closest you can get are garden fungicides that seem to be sulphur or copper based. (I'm seriously considering driving to New York state to get lawn fungicide!) So, what's a homeowner to do? I can try the cornmeal, as suggested, but there seems to be some debate on whether or not it works? I also seem to remember reading that either baking soda (or was it baking powder?) might also do the job? Any further suggestions are much appreciated.

Tammy, Those photos of 'Wedding Cake' indicate a heavy infestation of rose scales (in my view, among the most loathsome of all insects). The only thing that would keep me from trashing that plant immediately, would be the knowledge that it was so rare that I'd never be able to replace it. 'Wedding Cake' was in the middle of your pot ghetto? Carefully examine all other denizens of your ghetto. Soon. As for 'Bow Bells' -- return that one to a shaded location pronto. In answer to your question regarding whether you should fertilize that one now: NO. As for those insects . . . I think you may be right in assuming that they're some kind of beetle. They look kind of like Fuller rose beetles (are they more dark gray-ish than black?). If they are Fuller beetles, they'll eat the leaves in short order, but probably not do any lasting damage to the plant. Rather than spraying those critters (whatever they may be) and waiting to see what the morning brings, pinching that leaf off and quickly dispatching it (and them) underfoot is the way to go. Better yet, use your thumb and its 2 adjacent fingers to turn those suckers into a fine puree. I once was very squeamish about bug juice, but no more. Soap and water at the end of a gardening session is almost as satisfying and restorative as a subtle mix of gin and vermouth is at cocktail time.