| 6 WAYS TO KEEP SPRING AND SUMMER PESTS AT BAY |
| 6 WAYS TO KEEP SPRING AND SUMMER PESTS AT BAY
In the Garden or in Your Home by Billie A Williams 2006 © 1. Deer and rabbits feasting on your tender seedlings or maturing plants, hostas, apple trees tender spring growth and bush cherries tender branches? Make a circle of bloodmeal around your whole garden, or single plantings of tender seedlings, trees, etc. It is necessary to repeat applications after a heavy rain. But, twice or three times a season is usually enough to discourage pests. The bonus is that it adds nitrogen to your soil. The tender bulbs and plants you are protecting love it, grow and bloom profusely to tell you so. It is excellent for keeping your pea crop safe. The deer, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks detest it. Along with this I usually add a border of the old fashioned strong smelling marigolds. Especially around my vegetable garden. [Bloodmeal is available anywhere gardening supplies are sold.] 2. Are flies sneaking in your door as kids, you or guests go in and out? Keep flies and other bugs away from your back door by putting planters with geraniums and old fashioned strong smelling marigolds by the door. Regular geraniums in hues of brilliant red, bold and brassy pinks to white add color and charm to your entranceways especially in full sun, hot spots, while repelling the undesirable insects. You can have all these beautiful and hardworking benefits without putting harmful chemicals around your home, pets, or children. 3. Do squirrels think they own your bird feeders? Give them a hot treat and they won’t return to sample soon. These are tough critters to discourage, but you can keep them at bay by adding powdered red pepper, Cheyenne pepper, to your bird seed. Birds do not have olfactory (smell) glands, so they are unaffected by the sharp red pepper smell that deters the squirrel pests. Red squirrels are a bit harder to deter and you may need to add a couple mothballs to get them to stay away. 4. Are ants inviting themselves to a picnic in your house? The ever present, invasive tactics of the proverbial picnic pest, the ant, can be persuaded to move on in several ways. If they are coming into your home under doors or windows, tuck a dryer sheet under the sill plate near the door or window in their path. This works for months. If ants are in the cracks between side walks or concrete of a driveway, along walk ways. Building huge ant farms in your lawn…pour good old white vinegar in their holes. It will get rid of the ants, and a bonus, the weeds that seem to seed and flourish in those same cracks. Caution, used on lawn or grass patches, it will kill the vegetation, so use there at your discretion. If the ants are more of a nuisance than a patch of dead grass – it will get rid of them. 5. Do skunks assume under your porch is the perfect place to hatch their young ‘uns? Skunks will readily assume a home under porches, or sheds, and crawl spaces, they aren’t too particular. If you are worried about their spring or fall invasion, scatter moth balls under the porch, crawl space and in the shed, wherever they try to invade. Be sure they are not at home when you do this, or you will trap them in there where you don’t want them. An added bonus this also works for squirrel or chipmunk invasions in the same places or the attic of your home. Be prepared to make repairs to keep them from trying to come in next year. Board up, caulk, or otherwise block their entranceway. 6. Do you dread summer and the horde of mosquitoes that seem to be everywhere? Mosquitoes can be kept away from your doors with citronella candles if you want them burning all the time. Or the strong smelling lemon geraniums and old fashioned marigolds. But if you want to double up your bonus try planting a butterfly and humming bird garden outside near the door. Humming birds have voracious insect appetites, plus you have the benefit of their beauty as well as butterflies that will flock to your garden. Purple Martins and dragon flies are sure fire mosquito predators, but harder to deliberately attract without the proper accouterments. Martin houses are costly and take yearly cleaning and maintenance. Dragon flies can crush humming birds in their powerful front legs. I prefer the harmless flower garden method, and watching the delightful humming birds and butterflies is always a splendid bonus. BONUS: Avon Skin So Soft lotion still beats any chemical mosquito or other insect repellant I’ve ever tried. Its added benefit of moisturizing your skin as it protects is truly a bonus. It keeps mosquitoes, flies, gnats, no-seeums away while you garden or just enjoy your yard and it doesn’t smell like you took a bath in insecticide. I sure hope they don’t try to “improve” it. Happy Spring! Don’t let pest spoil your enjoyment of the out of doors. Billie A Williams P O Box 134 ,Amberg, WI 54102. www.billiewilliams.com billie@billiewililams.com |