More Darn Mosquitoes Alerts

Every article that you read in the newspaper or watch on TV indicates that mosquitoes need standing water in order to hatch. The truth is that moisture is needed, but not always in the form of a visible puddle.

All mosquitoes must have water in which to complete their life cycle. This water can range in quality from melted snow water to sewage effluent and it can be in any container imaginable. The type of water in which the mosquito larvae is found can be an aid to the identification of which species it may be. Also, the adult mosquitoes show a very distinct preference for the types of sources in which to lay their eggs. They lay their eggs in such places such as tree holes that periodically hold water, tide water pools in salt marshes, sewage effluent ponds, irrigated pastures, rain water ponds, etc. Each species therefore has unique environmental requirements for the maintenance of its life cycle.

Reprinted courtesy of www.mosquitoes.org.

Soils that retain moisture, soils underneath fallen leaves in hedge rows that remain shaded, areas between each individual piece of wood in a stack of firewood are just a few breeding spots that you never hear about.

Many people say that they have filled in low spots in their landscape to avoid standing water, they say that they have removed any container or bag that would let water accumulate and possibly serve as a breeding place for mosquitoes and they still have mosquitoes chomping away at their already welt covered bodies.

After explaining all the possible locations where mosquitoes may breed, many customers have called back to inform us that they were able to enjoy the outdoors more and several have even said that when they go to neighbors or friends homes they make it a point to walk around the exterior of the home and point out possible breeding spots.

I have tried to go out to customer’s homes that wanted us to spray their lawns with a BTI product that helps control mosquitoes, fungal gnats and black flies. As I spray these lawns, I have tried to take time to find breeding areas. Some of the hot spots are-

• Compost piles that stay too wet and compost tea bins that have no lids.
• Rain collection barrels, even one in particular had a lid on it, it seems that mosquito larvae may have been washed down from the gutter. Because of the amount of rain we have been receiving, the homeowner was not using the collected water and was full of wiggling larvae.
• One customer had painted the exterior of his house and when finished he left empty buckets, trays and plastic drop cloth in an area of the lawn where it collected water. Even the drop cloth had blackish water full of larvae.
• Underneath decking and around hot tubs is the most common breeding area.
• Storage sheds and seldom-used detached garages that have moisture at the base of their interiors are normally infested with mosquitoes.
• Sump pumps that do not expel all of the water become stagnate breeding grounds.
• Branch crotches of large trees where organic matter accumulates.

Now get this, one of the homes that I sprayed had many of the above-mentioned problems. The owner of the house was an elderly lady who seemed to be living by herself. She invited me into her house so I could explain several of the things I thought she needed to do in order to control her mosquito problem. While I was in her house I noticed that a mosquito was buzzing around me just looking for a spot to land and suck my blood. All of a sudden I realized it was not one mosquito, but several flying around.

I went to my truck, put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and started to snoop around her living room. I saw a vase of dead roses. The water was blackish and about 3 inches deep; in the water, mosquito larvae were wiggling around. Out of curiosity, I asked her how long ago she had received these flowers. She had them for almost a month. I convinced her that black roses were very rare, but when they were black, wilted and stinky, they were usually dead and should be composted or disposed of. We poured the water down a drain and placed a lime in the disposal in hope the juice would kill the mosquito larvae.

I looked around a bit more and saw a sick looking ficus tree sitting in a saucer. The saucer was full of water and had overflowed several times, rotting the carpet below it. In the saucer you could see more larvae, but what was even more incredible is that I swear I saw a mosquito come out of the wet carpet area to attack me. I went out to my truck, retrieved some citrus oil, mixed about one half ounce in an 8 ounce water glass and poured some in the saucer and the rest on the carpet around the ficus.

After leaving her house I went to her neighbor’s to see if anyone was looking out after her. The neighbor said she would contact the lady’s son and see if arrangements had been made. I wonder if the mosquito problem was just a way to get the help she needed.

I received the following email from a customer who did some research:

Greg;
Several cities are spraying for mosquitoes with a toxin Since this stupid spraying hits the children, the elderly and the compromised-immune-system the hardest (about 40% of the population?), spraying seems to be an incredibly stupid and tax-dollar-wasting effort. We appreciate any help you can give us. In case you want to broadcast it, evidently there is a phone number to call to find out where the City Of Dallas is going to spray next. It is 214-670-1733.

To complain by phone, it is 214-670-3900 and 214-670-4218.

To write a complaint, their address is
City of Dallas
1500 Marilla
Dallas, Texas 75201

Folks can make it out to the Dept. of Environmental Health if they want.

For Garland, people can get on the Internet and e-mail the mayor/council member at www.ci.garland.tx.us and finding the appropriate link (usually under department/government headings).

They can contact the Garland Health and Environmental Services dept. at:
City of Garland
1720 Commerce
Garland, Texas 75040
972-205-3442 and 972-205-3505 (fax)
Or e-mail at djohanse@ci.garland.tx.us

We appreciate any help you can give us. Thanks!

Top Projects for September

I know that year after year many of you have read my newsletters looking for projects to keep you out of trouble. Well, I always start September by saying: Fall is for planting! This year I will say something a little different. Fall is not for planting trees, shrubs or perennials that do not do well in your area.

Before you plant anything, investigate. What’s your climate zone?

What type of soil do you have; will the plant you want grow in your particular soil? How much sunlight do you have and does this sunlight include reflected heat from walls?

In our store, people come in who may be new homeowners, transplants from other states, counties or even other countries, who want a plant they saw in a magazine or grew at their old location.

If a customer comes to us and says, “We want a Bradford Pear”, we, after a considerable amount of laughter, tell them that we do not sell them.

Typically they say: “We just left Home Boxstore and they have a whole bunch of them”.

I feel like asking the customer to go back and wait until someone buys a Pear tree and then ask that person where they are from and how long they have been in the Dallas area? I make it a point to tell the customer that Bradford pear trees tend to break during heavy winds, and I show them photos to prove my point.

I have saved an excerpt of an article from the Dallas morning News Garden Section written by H. S. Stephens dated August 2, 2002 that explains why so many ornamental pear trees all of a sudden look so bad. As follows;

If the leaves rapidly turned brown, but are still firmly attached to the tree, cotton root rot is the probable cause:

Cotton root rot (Phymatotrichum omnivorum) thrives in areas that have alkaline clay soils and high summer temperatures. Because the fungus is most active during hot weather, symptoms usually appear during July and August. The first sign is a yellowing or bronzing of leaves, followed by rapid wilting and death. Depending on the plant's size, death can occur within a few days or over a period of several weeks. The dead leaves remain on the plant.

Mr. Stevens explains that Cotton Root rot can live in the soil until the root system of a disease prone plant comes into contact with it, killing the plant before you know what happened. A healthy plant today can be gone tomorrow.

If you live in an area where cotton root rot may exist, do not plant trees that may become infected; Cottonwood, Sycamore, pears, etc.

On Saturday the 24^th of August a customer came in and after I explained all the reasons not to plant an ornamental pear tree, after I showed him the article from the Dallas Morning News and after I showed him photographs of wind damaged trees he still went to another nursery and purchased one.

If you go to a nursery and they tell you a plant doesn’t do well in your area, do not buy it.

Euonymus, Silver King, Silver Queen, silver what ever. We have a customer that pays us to go his house on a monthly basis to spray his Euonymus to control scale. Why he planted them in the first place, I do not know. Why he doesn’t get rid of them is even more of a mystery.

Sweet Gums are beautiful plants in the fall with bright red to purple leaves, if the soil conditions are right. If you live in clay soils (can you say Dallas?) there is a good chance that the leaves will eventually turn yellow and the edges of the leaves will be black. Real attractive! To make matters worse once a Sweet Gum is stressed it becomes a great tree for attracting webworms.

Make sure that you are getting the correct species of tree. If you drive around Plano you will see some mature oaks that are yellow and in many cases have dropped most of their leaves. In 1985 there was a large demand for Red Oaks. Everybody wanted Shumardi Red Oaks, creating a shortage and unfortunately many nurseries purchased trees from dishonest growers that sold Pin Oaks as Red Oaks.

Anyway, I think you get the message. Yes. Fall is for planting, but do some research. Use the proper plant for the proper location. Determine the water requirement for the plants that are going into an area and make sure that they all meet the same requirements. As an example, do not plant moisture-loving plants with Xeriscape plants.

Since we are talking about landscaping, I will let you know that our walk in business always increases in times of economic uncertainty. Fewer people travel and more people stay at home rather than going to movies or other forms of entertainment that cost money.

While they are home it seems that very few people become couch potatoes and more people try their hand at landscaping. Removing unhealthy plants or just updating the landscape seems to be a form of stress reduction that lets them be creative and increase the value of their home, making that money well spent. So, it is to my benefit to ask you to stay at home at least one day and find some landscape projects.

Money well spent is getting in touch with SALLY landscape designer or CAROL landscape architect and have them help you create a new garden or a new look for your home.

Lawns

More and more people are using potassium bicarbonate and or corn meal to treat their lawns for fungal problems and treat trees and roses for black spot or powdery mildew. Personally, I have seen great results with both products, but find it easier to use potassium bicarbonate than corn meal.

Mixing 2 tablespoons of potassium bicarbonate, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to a gallon of water is so much easier than lifting a 50 lb bag of corn meal and pushing the heavy spreader around. Because I apply Potassium Bicarbonate on a weekly basis for quick effective results I have a designated sprayer ready to go. I just make sure that I shake the container very well before each use.

If you have the time apply a thin layer of compost over the entire lawn, this mild fertilizer will also retain moisture but as it gets wet it leaches its miracle juices deep into the soil. Just by using compost, many customers have been able to control brown patch in their lawns.

Weeds

If you have a heavy crop of weeds now, take advantage of the heat and spray them with 20% Vinegar. When applying Vinegar add Citrus Oil or Black Strap Molasses, about 1 cup of either one to a gallon of Vinegar. After killing the weeds, cover all bare soils to block the sunlight so seeds will not germinate.

Fertilize the lawn with GreenSense Lawn and Garden organic fertilizer. GreenSense contains major plant food nutrients in a slow release form that will also help stimulate microbial activity.

Fall is an excellent time to apply Humate. This petrified compost that is millions of years old. I also like to apply granular Humate at this time. Humate is loaded with trace minerals, carbon and humic acid, that act as an organic chelator.

Depending on where you live, microbes have had a high mortality rate due to extreme temperatures and drought conditions. As temperatures drop, apply GreenSense Lawn & Garden Microbial Treatment. This blend of beneficial microorganisms will improve soil health while also improving water and air movement underground.

Beneficial Nematodes will help control unwanted insects such as grubs, fire ants, termites and roaches just to mention a few. I like applying BN’s towards mid September when temperatures are in the 80’s and we have started to receive more rainfall.

If you have a weed problem, you can put out rye grass. I like using Perennial Rye because it doesn’t grow as quickly as annual requiring mowing once every 10 to 15 days.

Apply rye grass at a rate of 6-8 pounds per 1000 s/f., immediately after application spray the seed with GreenSense Kelp at a rate of 3 ounces per gallon of water over 500 square feet. This will help germination. Water once a day or as needed to keep the soil moist. If soil stays moist do not water on a daily basis but on an as needed basis. Reapply Kelp every 2 weeks until first mowing and then apply GreenSense All Purpose Fertilizers.

The draw back of rye grass is that you have to mow the lawn during winter months, but it does help crowd out perennial weeds as well as keep weed seeds from germinating.

Some people like to apply corn gluten meal at this time of the year, but you must remember that college tests have shown that CGM may impede seed germination. CGM however does make a powerful fertilizer with a 9-1-1 ratio.

Water wise. Keep the soil moist, but not wet. While the grass is rooting you may have to water more often. As soon as the grass is growing vigorously cut back to no more then three times a week for the first season. Try to get to the point where you water only once a week. I do- sometimes I will go 10 days between watering if we get 1 inch of rain between regular waterings.

Compost

Fall is an excellent time to start your compost pile. Now is the time when you are getting ready to pull up your summer color, your fall garden, the weeds that grew while you stayed in the air conditioned house during the dog days of summer.

Some people think it is necessary to have compost in bins; some people just make compost piles. I prefer a compost pile conical in shape. This allows for water shedding off the sides and not allowing the water to saturate the pile, cooling it down so much that it stops composting. By not having my compost in a pile I can turn it quickly by knocking it over to one side and then rebuilding a second pile. Like playing with a slinky.

Keep the compost pile moist enough to create heat but not so wet that it does not let heat occur. Amendments such as rock powders, fish emulsion, cotton burr compost, fertilizers (organic or synthetic) can help make your finished product richer.

Do not add grass clippings to your compost unless you are scalping the lawn in preparation for fall rye grass. Grass clipping will breakdown quickly when left in place- especially if you are using a mulching mower and an organic program.

Fall Clean Up

September can be a busy month. There is a lot that can be done in the garden since most of you stayed indoors during the hot months of July and August, letting the landscape take care of its own problems or becoming its own problem-- overgrown with unwanted vegetation as well as unkempt new growth.

At this time of the year I like shaping plants that are not putting out berries, such as hollies, pyracanthum, nandinas, coralberries and American beauty berry to name a few. By shaping plants I do not mean making plants look like animals, balls or any other time consuming, unnatural figure. I do not like boxing plants either -for the most part I will use a hand pruners rather than an electric hedge clipper. “Pick and prune” is what some gardener’s call proper trimming of shrubs and hedges. “Pick and prune” gives an overall neat appearance. Later on if you have just a small area that has grown faster than others, you spend a little time in “picking and pruning” those areas.

While you are at it, walk around your property and remove branches that are touching the house. If you can keep foliage at least a foot away from the house you will have fewer problems with carpenter ants and other unwanted pests finding ways into your home.

Cut pruned branches and stems into smaller sizes so they will compost more quickly. If branches are thicker than ¼ inch, don’t put them in the compost pile. Let them dry up a little and use the bigger pieces for kindling.

Mulch

One of the most important, but most forgotten chores in the landscape is the final dressing of mulch. Mulch can consist of any waste product that is biodegradable and non-toxic. I have seen mulches made from paper, cardboard, shredded clothes and, of course, purchased shredded mulches that are made from hardwood and other plant material products. My preference is pine straw. It has a different look, it is easy to walk on, and as it breaks down it helps acidify the soil. Cedar mulch contains oils that help repel insects while these oils are still present. Due to our dry climate the cedar oil does not last for a very long time, but could be replenished with thin layers added periodically. Keep a 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch throughout the year. We still have plenty of hot dry weather left this year, and remember that a layer of mulch also helps insulate the plant’s root system, protecting them from the cold winter temperatures.

Never pile mulch directly around the trunk of trees; it can cause basal rot, disease and even death. Start placing mulch about 3 to 4” away from the trunk, leaving the entire stem exposed, layer out to the tree’s drip line. The finished project should look like a volcano crater- the trunk being the smoke coming out of the volcano.

Vegetable Garden

Now is still a good time to plant your winter veggies. Lettuce, mustard greens, cabbage, broccoli, and my favorite- Brussels sprouts, can be planted from transplants now.

Towards the end of September plant Swiss Chard, this bright red vegetable is both edible and used as an ornamental planted with pansies etc.

Some people plant garlic in September, remember that garlic can be very pretty, try several varieties and scatter them around the landscape to help repel unwanted pests.