Things to Do in June

Even though the rain may have ruined some plans for Memorial Day Weekend, the much-needed water may help us have a cooler summer than what was in store. Moisture in the soil allows evaporation that can cool temperatures by a few degrees. These few degrees can be the difference between 98 or 100+. We need more rain. Unfortunately, everything indicates that we may be in store for a dry summer.

Don't wait until the last minute to get your landscape ready for drought conditions.

Mulch: If you have not mulched since last year, do it now. It is a good idea to add a layer of compost before spreading your final mulch over all of your landscape areas. As summer heat increases, organic matter in the soil quickly breaks down. Organic matter is essential for water retention as well as microbial activity and the plants ability to remain healthy. Plants that are not stressed have fewer problems with insects and disease.

Time to mow at a higher setting: This allows the grass to shade soil, keeping it cooler.

Aerate the lawn: I recommend aerating the lawn with a machine that removes plugs of soil so the “holes” will remain open throughout the summer. By doing this you will have thousands of little cups in the soil that will hold water for longer periods.

Decrease your water output: Instead of watering more, start watering less. Tough love for your landscape. Of course, this is for established landscapes. Newly installed plants may need supplemental watering. This does not mean that you turn on the entire system to water one or two plants. Get out into the yard and USE YOUR HOSE. This also allows you to inspect your plants and enjoy them at close range.

Inspect your irrigation system: Make sure that all heads are spraying in the proper direction. Remove soil or debris that may be trapped inside the heads. Keep grass, groundcover and plants trimmed away from the heads to ensure proper output.

Set your timer to go off early in the morning and if possible, increase number of cycles and decrease the amount of time for each cycle to allow for better water penetration.

An area of my lawn slopes steeply enough to cause water to "run-off" after 8 minutes of output. For the first 7 minutes water is absorbed, then it starts flowing over the sidewalk. Ask anyone who knows me, I do not like to waste money! I especially do not like to see it go down the sewer - literally. My system is set to do three 7-minute cycles each time I turn the controller on. I do not leave my system on Automatic, but turn it off after each use. I am the master of my controller!

Go ahead spend some time playing in the water. Get better acquainted with your sprinkler system and your landscape, it'll be beneficial for everyone.

Trim all plants that have finished blooming and deadhead spent blooms on flowering plants. My wife, Sandra, has so many beautiful geraniums that she seems to deadhead these plants daily, but her geraniums bloom for long periods and with more blooms than I see at other homes where the plants do not get as much care.

Fertilize regularly to ensure color and health of plant. Any plant in bloom is expending lots of energy, do not stress it more by not giving it adequate food and moisture. Green Sense Vegetable & Flower Food works well for any plant, even if it does not flower or bear vegetables.

What’s Plaguing You?

People have been bringing in samples from their lawn and landscapes. These are the most common:

Powdery Mildew on Crape Myrtles, vegetable & flowering plants: This is easily treated with Potassium Bicarbonate and a "spreader-sticker" (assists in sticking to the leaf) added. We use Aunt Rohde’s Compost Tea, Coconut Oil or Molasses.

Brown Patch: High humidity in May has caused brown patch to show up in lawns. Apply corn meal at a rate of 20 lbs per thousand square feet beyond the affected area. Repeat applications every 7 to 10 days. Potassium Bicarbonate also works very well and happens to be my preferred product because it is so easy to apply with a watering can.

Fire Ants: After this Memorial Day rain, mounds popped up out of nowhere. Use Green Sense Soil Drench by applying directly to the mound. As the name implies, drench the mound using as much of the product as is needed to overflow the mound.

Apply Beneficial Nematodes - these predators can seek and destroy ant larvae.

Remember - Fire ants help control flea problems. If you live in a woody area, you might just treat the mounds immediately around living areas.

Tomato Hornworms: are attacking many vegetable gardens now. Hornworms and other caterpillars can be treated with BT Kustaki. This bacteria is sold by several companies under names such as Thuricide a liquid concentrate, Dipel Dust, an easily applied powder and Dipel Pro, a water soluble product for application in larger areas.

Tricogramma Wasps can be released for control of caterpillars. These beneficial insects usually colonize in the area where they are released, giving many years of natural defense.

Most wasps are "beneficials" and search for caterpillar meals. Don't kill wasps in your garden by using insecticides. Remember even natural insecticides like Neem Oils, Bioganic or pyrethrum products kill bees and other beneficial insects, so apply only where you must and only when you must and do not blanket spray. Skip rows or plants so beneficials will have a chance to survive.

The Grasshoppers Are Back

reprint from June 2002

We have had many reports of grasshopper nymphs already. The use of Nolo bait in the early stages of a grasshopper’s life is beneficial because it takes less of the bait to infect the young grasshopper and kills it in a short amount of time. Normally 7 to 10 days after a nymph has ingested the Nolo Bait, it will dieeeeeeee!!! Its small body may be eaten by other grasshoppers that will receive (hopefully) their last meal and also dieeeeeeee.

While many grasshoppers and Mormon Crickets will eat the product and die, some grasshoppers do not or are not sickened by it and still have cravings for plants in your garden. So now is the time to disguise your plants with a dusty material called KAOLIN.

Last year we gave out more then 300 samples of Kaolin to customers for testing and have found the following instructions to be helpful:

• Find an all-purpose sprayer that is clean and capable of applying great volumes of water-logged material. An old Miracle-Gro Sprayer seemed to be the most favored applicator. Other hose end sprayers and pump sprayers seemed to work, but were slower and required more applications.
• Almost everyone seemed to agree that they needed some type of agitator inside the bottle to keep the Kaolin from settling. Many people wrote saying that a simple rock, golfball or some marbles worked well when added to the container and shake the bottles regularly as you spray the product.
• Using no less then a half-pound of Kaolin per gallon of water, start to apply at the top of the plant leaving a thick milky residual on the leaves and stems of the plants that you are trying to protect. Feedback from one customer:
  “Just spraying a clay mixture in water did not look good; the clay puddled on the leaves. I added liquid dish washing soap and it worked well in covering the leaves and tomatoes. I also sprayed some johnson grass next to the tomatoes. The tomatoes look good and are still producing and the johnson grass that was sprayed is in good shape. Johnson grass about 10 feet away has been stripped and the hoppers have attacked okra that was not sprayed, stripping most of the leaves.”
  Their recommended recipe; MIX:
  ½ pound Kaolin clay
  1-tablespoon of either liquid kelp, foliar juice or dish washing soap
  1-gallon water
• After the Kaolin has dries, inspect the plants for grasshopper activity, and yes everyone said that they still had grasshoppers. Reapply a second application, if necessary. Do not spray so much that you wash off the first coat.
• If necessary, some people have applied a third coating of Kaolin.
• Persistence pays off for he/she who was willing to go a little further. About 20 people said that they sprayed only one. Three of these people had good results. Twenty or so people said that two applications were necessary and another 20 people said that after the third application they saw very few grasshoppers were still on the plant. Many customers said that it did not work and would not try it again. Who said if it at first you don’t succeed try and try again. Obviously not the last group of people.

Grasshoppers no longer want to eat plants coated with Kaolin, so this is a good time to apply Nolo Bait Grasshopper Control in conjunction with Kaolin.

Skeeter Season Opens!

reprint from June 2002

Not too long ago I was at a party in our neighborhood. Well, actually it was on the rich side of our neighborhood. It’s like on the other side if the railroad tracks, our side being the smaller homes; almost cabin-like compared to those. Anyway, I do not even know how I got to this party but once I was there I took advantage of the food and drinks. Everything a person would want was available at this party. A hired cook behind a grill prepared everything but hamburgers and kitchen staff prepared varieties of soups, salads and even home-made breads.

I don't eat desserts, but Sandra does,and did: to make sure they were fresh, she tasted them all.

There was live music, a nice group of people, all and all a good evening except for the mosquitoes. The house is on a wooded lot, backed up to a slow creek, a mosquito-breeding creek.

Everyone present seemed to be preoccupied with the mosquitoes and every two minutes or so you could see someone swat in the direction of a buzzing insect. When they could not stand it any more they would grab a container of repellent and spray themselves. When they realized the repellant wasn't working, they would head indoors. Finally, so many people were going in and out that mosquitoes were in the house as well.

The next day I called the host up and asked if I could come by and snoop around the yard to find the source of mosquitoes. Sandra wanted to go to see if the desserts were as fresh as yesterday.They said I could come by and for that would be grateful. They asked me to not let Sandra come because she had already eaten enough pastries.

When I arrived, I noticed an accumulation of leaves against the fence between their house and the neighbor’s. The leaves were moist; as I kicked them mosquitoes swarmed out of the pile.

As I walked around the backyard, I noticed a large space between the deck and the surface of the sloping backyard. Under the deck grew underbrush as well as years of leaves and other organic debris. On the deck I at least 20 mosquitoes buzzed around me.

I made my way down to the creek and snooped around for standing water, but saw none.

As I walked back up the yard, I passed by an old tree that was hollowed out in the middle. I looked into the center of the tree and was attacked by thousands of skeeters.

Returning on my tour of the garden I noticed that all the gutters were stuffed with leaves and in the shrub beds there was a heavy accumulation of debris just moist enough to breed mosquitoes.

I knocked on the door and the owners came out carrying a platter of desserts. I think they were pleased to see that Sandra was not with me, they went back in, left the platter and came back out to talk. We walked around the house and I pointed out possible breeding areas.

I made recommendations for them to:

• Clean up and compost all the yard debris, making sure that someone turned the compost regularly to keep the pile temperature high enough to kill the mosquito larvae.
• Flush the gutters with water from the garden hose.
• Add a “mosquito dunk” to the hollow area of the tree.

Underneath the deck, behind all shrub areas and in the groundcover areas I wanted them to apply Green Sense Aquabac, a biological mosquito control made from Bacillus thuringiensis Isralensis and is not harmful to frogs, lizards, birds, pets or humans.

Or if they preferred, I suggested the use of our service to apply Aquabac. We’ve used this product on properties with great success and have received calls from several customers who say their children and pets are outside more enjoying the back yard with fewer insect bites.

As I was leaving they called me to the door and had me take a platter of desserts to Sandra. As soon as I arrived home, Sandra met me at the door and asked me if by any chance I had something for her. I was surprised by the size of her smile as she grabbed the platter from me and picked through the desserts looking for the ones she enjoyed most the night before.

For temporary mosquito repelling I use Green Sense Citrus-nella Repella, this product contains citrus oil to kill the mosquitoes it comes in contact with and citronella for repelling small flying insects for up to 5 days or between rains.

When using Citrus-nella Repella I spray the groundcover areas, behind shrubs, cushions of outdoor furniture and underneath the patio- including the brick walls and the floor.

When working by a creek or in areas where I need to keep mosquitoes away, I use Skeeter Shoo by Ecozone, on my arms and legs. Herbal ingredients citronella, cedar, clove, geranium and sesame oils, repel bugs for a long time and,best of all, doesn't contain DEET.

“Mr. C.”: A Folow Up

In the May 2003 issue of Organic Matters, I wrote about my friend “Mr. C.”. I received several emails from readers who had friends that had loved ones affected by Alzheimer's. The similarities between Mr. C.’s confusion and multitasking were similar to patterns experienced by their acquaintances.

I must confess that Mr. C is a good friend who has had several unfinished projects going for several months now, my article was more in jest. Mr. C is only two years older than I, but those two years put him over the 50-year mark. Making him one of the oldest persons with whom I socialize, and yes, I did use his inability to complete his tasks for my gain.

In most of my articles I do try to use some humor to make a point. And that is exactly what I intended with the article “Too many projects and none get finished…” If I offended anybody, I must apologize.

Some of the readers chastised me for pointing out my friend’s misfortune and asked me to read and inform myself more about this disease that is affecting higher percentages of North Americans than any other country. I had to find out .....why?

I read articles and information sent to me as well as many of the thousands of articles that I found on the internet, the information made me think of my sister, Teresa.

Teresa died of cancer. Her cancer started in the lymph glands under her left arm.

Teresa was a very active young lady who played tennis at every opportunity. There were days when Teresa would shower three times, knowing my sister, I bet that she reapplied a deodorant after each shower. The doctor who treated Teresa did not say that her cancer was caused by the use of deodorant but did explain to us that when we rub aluminum based deodorants into our armpits, we are applying aluminum in an area that is designed to eliminate body waste. This area is also near the lymph nodes and can absorb this material into the body storing a possible carcinogen. After a few months of courageous battle with cancer, she died.

Lymph glands fight infections and cancers by acting as a filter to remove invading or foreign organisms. Any fluid absorbed by the lymphatic system passes through at least one lymph node before it returns to circulation. White blood cells in the lymph glands try to destroy most of the invading foreign organisms. But what if a person thinks a product is safe and introduces more foreign matter, such as deodorants, than the lymph nodes can handle? This foreign matter may spread to other areas such as breast and brain tissue.

Alzheimer's affects the brain and a person's ability to carry out daily activities such as thought, memory, and language.

We make jokes about some European's lack of deodorant usage. Did you know that the percentage of Europeans with Alzheimer's is far less per capita then in the U.S.?

Several studies have shown that the excessive use of aluminum by Americans may contribute to Alzheimer's as well as be the cause of other diseases such as breast cancer.

In the 80’s we were using aluminum cookware as well as aluminum foil to keep our food in the refrigerator. One article that I read expressed concern specifically for spaghetti sauce that was in direct contact with aluminum wrap or foil. Karen Gilley, manager of Rohde’s Nursery, thinks the acid in tomato sauce may interact with the aluminum foil causing particles to mix with the spaghetti. She presumes that the same thing would happen with foods prepared with citric acids would also be harmful if stored in aluminum. We drink beer and sodas from aluminum cans that some people say can harm us.

In a book that I just finished reading called The Secret Life of Dust by Hanna Holmes the author describes how wind currents carry particles of bauxite towards the United States and drops tons of these particles over the east coast on its way further north. Of course unsuspecting residents breathe the dust particles that originate deep in mines in Barbados. Bauxite is aluminum! There really is not much that we can do about the airborne dust particles unless the EPA recommends discontinuing use of aluminum, minimizing the need to mine this product.

But, The Environmental Agency (EPA) says that there is no correlation between Alzheimer's and aluminum. I wonder? Independent laboratories test show different results. Again I wonder, who pays for government testing and what benefit does an independent organization have in falsified reports?

As I read, more information came up. Fluoride can also be a factor in Alzheimer's. We have laughed about the English and their sometimes less than perfect teeth. In the United States we want our children to have pearly white straight teeth, our drinking water is fluorinated and so is our toothpaste.

In England and most European countries, drinking water is not fluoridated. Once again Alzheimer's claims far fewer victims in England then in the US. Guess what, independent studies have shown fluoride may be a cause for Alzheimer's. EPA says there is no link.

Now I am going to go into one of my “Greg” things. I have two older brothers that were born in Peru and Ecuador, but moved to Dallas as toddlers and stayed here until they were 18 and 16 years old. My brother Laurence and I left the United States to Peru at fairly young ages and stayed until we were 18. Both Laurence and I have cavities in almost every tooth. My older brothers that grew up in Dallas do not. I know that I brushed my teeth at least three times a day, but I also know that the water we drank was not fluoridated and had to be boiled before drinking.

I found that when we wash our clothes with fluoridated water, fluoride does not go down the drain during the spin cycle. Much of it sticks to our clothes and some of it becomes air borne particles as the materials dry. And sooner or later we are going to inhale the particles or absorb them through our skin. And just like the airborne aluminum particles from Barbados will get into our lungs and then be released into the blood stream.

EPA says that Fluoride does not have any correlation with Alzheimer's. EPA also says that Aluminum has no carcinogens or direct relationship to Alzheimer’s. But have they ever put 1 + 1 together. I wonder?