Things to Do in July

Watering

Either it rains to much or it doesn’t rain at all. Here in North Texas we are going through a drought and people have started watering on a daily basis. I hope that you are not over-watering your lawns and gardens. It would be nice if you are watering irregularly. Do not set your sprinkler system to water everyday or every third day, but when the plants really need it. When I go out to get the newspaper early in the morning, I walk over the grass, slowly, hoping to feel some cool moisture on the bottom of my feet. If I feel moisture, I go read the paper. If I do not feel moisture, I turn the sprinkler system on. When my system is on I let it run until the water starts to stream across the sidewalk. Normally, because of the steep slope in my lawn, the stream occurs after seven minutes, so my system is programmed to go thru the cycle at seven minutes of watering per station and then it repeats itself. The key to good watering is to water thoroughly and deeply. It is very important that you use efficient sprinklers or watering devices. Do not waste water. Water the lawn, water the flower beds or water the vegetable garden. Do not water the driveway, the sidewalk or the roof of the house. Even though you want your investments to grow, water does nothing for concrete or roofs. Two of the most over-looked areas that require water are under the eaves of the house, to keep the foundation from moving, and under tall trees. Some trees can absorb up to 10,000 gallons of water per day. So be certain to take time to check the need for watering in these two locations.

Mulch

I replenish the mulch in my gardens about every three months, trying to keep a three inch layer. About every third time I will add Back To Earth compost instead of mulch.

Flowers

Now is a good time to pinch faded flowers off of annuals and perennials to allow prolonged blooming. If allowed to go to seed, the plant will direct its energy toward seed production instead of forming new blooms.

Weeds

Warm weather and the additional attention given to watering is going to make your weeds grow faster and they can become a problem if they are not kept under control. Remember that if a weed flowers and goes to seed, your problem can multiply rapidly. Mulch will aid in weed reduction by not letting the sunlight reach the seed and germinate.

Container Plants

Container grown plants may need watering twice a day during this heat, but you can use polymers to help retain water in pots. This Jell-O like product absorbs up to 30 times it’s weight in water and will release it as the soil dries. Check out Solid Water in our catalog. Add more lava sand to your plants that tend to wilt more. We have a mum that is growing in pure lava sand that we only water once a week and it looks great.

Foliar Feeding

Maintain healthy plants by foliar feeding as often as you want, but at least once a week. Do not forget to feed the plant with a granular, all purpose, organic fertilizer at least once a month. When you water potted plants the water has to go down leaching out nutrients, so replace them regularly.

Blooms

Divide and transplant bearded iris after bloom. Discard the center of the rhizome and plant the ends. Then cut leaves back to about six inches.

Prune spring-flowering shrubs if you have not yet done so. Start to fertilize them once a month until bud set.

Trees

Trees can be pruned, but heavy pruning can expose previously shaded leaves and bark to sun light that they were not used to, causing them to burn. Only prune when necessary, branches that are damaging the roof or structure, slapping joggers as they go for their early morning run, etc.

Lawn Care

Now is a good time to fertilize your lawn with an all purpose, organic fertilizer. Mow your lawn at a higher setting. Let the grass leaves fall to the ground as a mulch. As they break down they will release nutrients and organic matter back to the soil. Some people call it recycling.

Fleas

When I was younger I remember that one of my older brothers scratched himself a lot and was nicknamed “Flea Bag.” Every once in a while I would sneak up on him and try to get a good look at some fleas, but he would always get mad and try to kick me, so I never really saw any. Several years latter we acquired a dog with blond hair. Growing up in Peru, we thought that a good name for the dog would be “Gringo.” It was not uncommon for dogs to disappear if you let them out of the house. I was told that they became someone’s dinner. Anyway, Gringo was basically a house dog that only saw our backyard. Occasionally he would scratch and I would try to find some fleas, but never did. I moved to Texas when I was 18 and stayed at my brothers house. The day I arrived and moved into my room, that just so happened to be the same room where the dogs stayed. I got bit by an insect, a flea. My brother made me vacuum up the room while he went to a hardware store and came back with a bomb. Being the older brother he had me set off the bomb and close the door. We went to dinner and when we got back the whole house smelled like poison. My brother said goodnight and expected me to sleep in that bombed room. I did not!. Ever since I have had many run-ins with fleas and now my wife and I try to make sure that our dog Alfred receives the best care using all natural shampoos and dog food. I invite you to check out our website catalog for Pet Products.

Adult fleas are not only a nuisance to humans and their pets, but can cause medical problems including flea allergy dermatitis, tapeworms, secondary skin irritations and, in extreme cases, anemia. Although bites are rarely felt, it is the resulting irritation caused by the flea salivary secretions that varies among individuals. Some may witness a severe reaction resulting in secondary infections caused by scratching the irritated skin area. Others may show no reaction or irritation acquired after repeated bites over several weeks or months. Most bites usually found on the ankles and legs may cause pain lasting a few minutes, hours or days, depending on one's sensitivity. The typical reaction to the bite is the formation of a small, hard, red, slightly-raised itching spot. There is a single puncture point in the center of each spot.

You Really Don't Know What They Look Like?

Until I came to Dallas in 1972, I never knew what a flea was. So here is a good description: Eggs are smooth, oval and white. Larvae are 1/4 inch long, slender, straw-colored, brown headed, wormlike, bristly-haired creatures that are legless, have chewing mouth parts, are active, and avoid light. Pupae are enclosed in silken cocoons covered with particles of debris. Larvae are blind, avoid light, pass through three larval instars and take a week to several months to develop. Their food consists of digested blood from adult flea feces, dead skin, hair, feathers, and other organic debris. Pupa mature to adulthood within a silken cocoon woven by the larva to which pet hair, carpet fiber, dust, grass cuttings, and other debris adheres. In about five to fourteen days, adult fleas emerge or may remain resting in the cocoon until the detection of vibration (pet and people movement), pressure (host animal lying down on them), heat or noise, meaning a potential blood source is near. Most fleas overwinter in the larval or pupal stage with survival and growth best during warm, moist winters and spring. Fleas pass through a complete life cycle consisting of egg, larva, pupa and adult. Completion of the life cycle from egg to adult varies from two weeks to eight months depending on the temperature, humidity, food, and species. Normally after a blood meal, the female flea lays about 15 to 20 eggs per day up to 600 in a lifetime usually on the host (dogs, cats, rats, rabbits, mice, squirrels, humans, etc.). Eggs loosely laid in the hair coat, drop out most anywhere especially where the host rests, sleeps or nests. Eggs hatch in two days to two weeks into larvae found indoors in floor cracks and crevices, along baseboards, under rug edges and in furniture or beds. Outdoor development occurs in sandy gravel soils where the pet may rest or sleep. Sand and gravel are very suitable for larval development which is the reason fleas are erroneously called "sand fleas."

Adult fleas are about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long, dark reddish-brown, wingless, hard-bodied, have three pairs of legs and are flattened vertically or side to side allowing easy movement between the hair, fur or feathers of the host. Fleas are excellent jumpers, leaping vertically up to seven inches and horizontally thirteen inches. They have piercing-sucking mouthparts and spines on the body projecting backward. Adult fleas cannot survive or lay eggs without a blood meal, but may live from two months to one year without feeding. There is often a desperate need for flea control after a family has returned from a long vacation. The house has been empty with no cat or dog around for fleas to feed on. When the family and pets are gone, flea eggs hatch and larvae pupate. The adult fleas fully developed inside the pupal cocoon remains in a kind of "limbo" for a long time until a blood source is near. The family returning from vacation is immediately attacked by waiting hungry hordes of fleas. Newly emerged adult fleas live only about one week if a blood meal is not obtained. However, completely developed adult fleas can live for several months without eating, so long as they do not emerge from their puparia. Optimum temperatures for the flea's life cycle are 70°F to 85°F and optimum humidity is 70 percent.

How Do I Get Rid of Fleas?

Flea control is best achieved with a simultaneous, coordinated effort involving strict sanitation, pet treatment and premise treatment both indoors and outdoors.

I know this may look funny but a good way to detect fleas is by placing white socks over shoes and walking through the home and into the yard. If you have fleas on your socks then there is a good chance that these areas will contain eggs, larvae and pupae even after vacuuming. Areas to check are usually where the pet goes in and out of the house, eats, sleeps, at the base of furniture and tops of refrigerators.

One can monitor flea populations by placing a shallow pan of water with a little dish detergent (acts as a wetting agent which breaks water surface tension) on the floor. Position a gooseneck lamp with the light on about five to six inches above the liquid surface. Adult fleas will leap toward the light at night, fall into the detergent solution and drown. When we first got Alfred our Ferocious Dachshund I “made” my wife buy some Flea Trap Monitors by Enforcer. It comes with sticky traps and a built in light. I eventually put it away because Alfred never got fleas. They, too are afraid of him.

Clean Like You've Never Cleaned Before

Collect all items (toys, shoes, clothes, etc.) off the floor, under beds, furniture, in closets, etc. and vacuum every square inch and then vacuum again. Vacuuming carpet with a beater-bar type vacuum where the pet rests and sleeps will help control flea larvae by removing eggs and dried blood feces (larval food) plus opening up the carpet's nap for more effective insecticide treatment. Vacuuming must be performed on a regular basis everyday to be effective. Flea larvae do not move far from the site of hatching when there is adequate food (dried blood feces from adults). At pupation, the larva move up the carpet fiber spinning a camouflaging cocoon around itself. Vacuum especially where lint and pet hairs accumulate along baseboards, around carpet edges, on ventilators, around heat registers, in floor cracks and under and in furniture where the pet sleeps. After vacuuming, place the vacuum bag in a large plastic garbage bag and discard in an outdoor trash container. If the cleaner uses a liquid water medium in a plastic pan (rather than a dust bag) discard dirty water far away from the house.

What Safe Products Can I Use to Kill Fleas?

Use an insect growth regulator (IGR), which is a hormone to prevent eggs from hatching and larvae from pupating into biting adults. Precor is odorless and non-staining on carpets or fabrics. IGRs do not kill pupa or adults. IGRs are considered biodegradable and are not known to accumulate in the food chain. IGRs are of negligible hazard to humans, pets and the environment.

Beneficial nematodes, by Orcon are labeled against flea larvae and pupae in the yard and garden habitats. The only drawback is that you have to water the lawn and keep the soil moist for two weeks after application. I treat my yard in the early spring and again in the fall, when we have more natural rain.

Botanicals: Pyrethrins, derived from the flowers of chrysanthemum, and rotenone from the roots of derris, cube and cracca plants, are good contact insecticides. Other botanicals include d-Limonene, or citrus oil for short residual control. Citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, pennyroyal oil, balsam, lavender oil, calendula, comfrey, rosemary, tea tree oil and yucca serve as repellents.

Other flea killers include diatomaceous earth and Boric Acid. D.E. works by cutting the underbelly of the flea as it walks over it. Boric Acid is a stomach poison killing fleas in the larva stage. Apply directly on vacuumed, cleaned carpets where pets frequently travel or sleep. Work powder deeply into fibers with a broom or rug rake. For upholstery, remove loose cushions, apply along creases and into corner, not to exposed fabric. Any powder visible after application must be brushed in cracks or removed. Borates are environmentally safe, odorless and used in homes with children and pets.

Mechanical Controls

An ultra flea comb, a product of Four Paws Product, Ltd. works well to remove fleas from the pet's hair coat. Comb your pets neck and butt areas at least once a day, but if you can comb three times a day that would increase your chances of catching fleas as they go in search for water.

Outdoors: Animal pens, kennels, doghouses, crawlspaces and sandy soil or gravel driveways are important to spot treat with a hand sprayer. Clean and sweep porches, mow the grass and soak the dry soil with water before treating to bring the flea larvae up to the surface. Additional treatments at intervals, according to label directions, may be needed.

Organics by Instinct

by Jessie Stephens, Backyard Nature Store, Sherman TX

Sure, anyone can learn to garden organically. But some people seem to be born with the instinct. How to tell whether you have it? It depends on how you respond to situations like the following.

Grasshoppers are eating everything on your property. You hunt up a gang of eight-year-olds and offer them a nickel for every cold carcass they bring you. Given the rate at which grasshoppers have infested the world this year, you may have to go into your C.D.

Worms are infesting your catalpa tree. You hunt up a fisherman and charge him a nickel for every worm he harvests from your tree. You recoup your grasshopper investment before you reach for the B.T. to kill the remnant.

You discover that your cat likes your creeping thyme bed better than other brands of kitty litter. You go down to the local Super Mart and buy a kid’s water ray-gun, the pump-up type that makes an attention-grabbing hiss. When the cat ambles toward the thyme to do its job, you start pumping up. When it squats, you hit it with a water “ray.” It jumps and runs, job forgotten. Water and hiss work together to convince kitty that the thyme bed belongs to the biggest and nastiest cat in the valley, one not to be trifled with. After a couple of encounters, it will seek out other accommodations, such as your perennial bed.

You call your local organic nursery to inquire why the plant you bought there died. The owner asks, “Did you loosen the roots when you took it out of the pot?” You don’t answer, “Out of the pot?”

You walk into the garden on a warm, misty morning and see that the resident mockingbird has added ripe tomatoes to his morning hornworm cocktail. You offer him a recipe for squash bug soufflé.

On that same trip, you see that the fennel has been stripped again by black swallowtail caterpillars. You set up a butterfly house.

You encounter a bug-eating snake or lizard in your garden and offer it a hug. You’re offended when it shrugs off your attempt to kiss its skinny lips.

You don’t call poison control when a cotton spider objects to your hand in its stretch of spinach leaves and chomps on your thumb before it gets back to the important work of eating insects. You know what black widows and brown recluses look like, and you don’t fool around with them.

You’ve learned to pronounce “diatomaceous earth” and “ascophylum nodosum,” but you’re careful who you do it around.

Someone says “tea” and you think “manure.”

Your slugs and snails drink more beer than you do.

You watch movies like “Men in Black” or the classic “Them” and wonder if the bugs might have just been misunderstood.

You know what worm castings really are.

And you like nothing better than swapping success stories with other organic gardeners and helping beginners start developing their instincts. So tell ’em about TOGS, the Texoma Organic Growers get-together that meets in Sherman. We sponsor two free public events every month, a workshop for beginning organic gardeners and a meeting with a speaker.

The Best Things in Life Are Free

by Sally Sutton

The other morning before heading to work I was pulling weeds in my butterfly garden, when I spotted the oddest looking wasp I had ever seen. It was much longer than normal and was mostly black, with some green. A green wasp? It flew around to a different spot, and I was able to view it from a different angle. Lo and behold, it wasn’t an odd wasp, but a normal wasp carrying prey. “Aha!” I thought to myself. “Wow, cool!” I added. Before I could identify what the wasp had chosen for its breakfast, it flew off to do its wasp activities somewhere else. It was time for me to head on, too, so I bid farewell to the rest of the industrious insects, bugs and flowers, and left for work.

A few days later, Carolyn, a Rohde’s employee (You know her. She’s the one with a towel around her neck and a hose in her hands) came rushing inside all excited. She announced a new arrival that we all had to come out to see. There it was, about an inch long, trying to be the great fierce hunter it was meant to be. We all oohed and ahhed, marveling at this wondrous baby green anole.

And then there was the young customer who didn’t live in a shoe, but who had so many baby toads she didn’t know what to do. So she brought some to Karen (You know her. She’s the boss—shh, don’t tell Greg—and she’s the one that always has a phone to her ear and goes around saying “Is everything watered?”). Karen did know what to do. She gently took the tiny toads outside and gave them new homes around the ponds and fern fronds where they’ll be safe, have lots to eat and grow up into fat round toads with big smiles on their faces just like their concrete cousins that hang out here at Rohde’s.

These are just a few examples of the life that goes on continually around us. So much of the time we sleep until the last minute, rush through breakfast in our closed up houses, commute down the highway to work all day in cavernous offices, then return the same way home and plunk down inside to relax and watch a sit-com or a nature show on TV. The other morning as I watched the wasp carry its prey around, I realized that this was a live nature show I was able to watch as it happened. This is why I garden organically. I love life. I suspect our Rohde’s customers do, too. But what good does that do us if we don’t make the time to enjoy it.

Get up a little earlier tomorrow, or turn off the TV and stroll though your garden after work. Yes, I know it’s hot, but sweating is good for you now and then. And, definitely, if you haven’t already, take those pesticides to the next hazardous waste disposal event. There’s no telling what’s featured on the next nature show in your garden!