Fleas, ticks, grasshoppers and webworms seem to be invading North Texas and many other areas of the US this year. There is such an outbreak of webworms that Bacillus thuringensis kurstaki strain has been sold out at most stores. This effective biological control agent, BTK, will attack only caterpillars.

So far we have not seen a shortage of products used for control of fleas or ticks.

Why are we experiencing such an outbreak of pests at this time?
Hell, I do not know. I have queried several people who I consider more knowledgeable and have been in the business longer than I have, if they knew why we were experiencing such pest outbreaks. The answer I got from everyone. “It is the rain.”

“But what does the rain have to do with it?”

“I do not know!”

“Well, what am I going to tell my customers?”

“The rain is causing the out break.”

I do know that we have had more calls about fleas, ticks, grasshoppers and webworms in the last month than I can remember getting in my 33 years in business.

On Saturday the 23 of June, three days before my BD, 73% of our non-plant sales were for caterpillar control. It is the first time that any one product outsold cotton bur compost. By the end of the day I was tired of talking about caterpillars and BT products.

As many of you know there is some disease that is affecting our bees. At first I thought that this disease was just affecting honeybees, but in my walks around my yard I have yet to see any yellow jackets this year. Another noticeable absence is the mockingbird that used to perch in the Yaupon outside my son’s bedroom window. I have also noticed that the mockingbird resident at Rohde’s Nursery is also missing.

The National Audubon Society released a study showing that mockingbird populations have declined by 18 percent over the past 40 years, the Austin American-Statesman reported Sunday. Greg Butcher, the study's author, said suburbanization and sprawl have cost the birds a substantial amount of their natural habitat. He suggested Texas homeowners plant berry-producing shrubs in their yards to help bring the bird back. The study noted 20 other bird species common to the area whose populations are in decline. None, however, are in immediate danger of extinction.

Wait, one more thing. Have you seen your geckos this year? I have, but I have not seen as many as last year. I asked around some… again. The rains may be keeping the soil temperatures down causing the geckos to think that it is not time to come out yet.

It’s looking like wasps, birds and geckos are possibly not plentiful enough to control the pests. And then you have the rain that is causing the over abundance of webworms this year.

Now what do we do?

Attract birds to your property. Put out birdseed until you have birds in your yard and then reduce the amount of seed, causing the birds to look elsewhere. Place a sign next to your feeder that points to the webworms. You may write in big letters. “Look UP!”

Poke holes into the webs to allow wasps easy entry. Look throughout your property for a yellow jacket. When you find one. Put on some cologne and bright clothing on the back of what ever you are wearing paint a sign that says:: “Follow me!”

Grab a handful of stones or use the same stick with witch you poked holes into the web. Hit the wasp nest to get the attention of the habitants. When they emerge RUN in the direction of the webworms.

I have no idea on ways to attract geckos or make them come out of hiding. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Really now.

I have seen people removing branches infested by webworms. They cut out big branches leaving gaping holes in the tree’s canopy. And they think that looks better then the webs. They then place the branches at the curb where they will wait for city bulk pick up.

Most people do not do anything to the webs and therefore the caterpillars live happily waiting to become moths. As moths they will lay more eggs that will turn into…? Yes! caterpillars, which will create more webs, causing the homeowner or trimmer to remove more branches from the tree. It will not be the caterpillar that kills the tree it will be the uneducated tree trimmer.

If you are going to remove branches place a thick layer of clear plastic over the stacked branches. This will allow heat to kill the insects. If you use black plastic, they will follow the light peeking under the plastic, and find an escape route. Clear plastic will not allow them to escape since the light will not be brighter as if you used a black sheet of plastic.

If it were me, I would release Tricograma wasps. Tricograma wasps are great predators of moth and butterfly eggs. They can fly as high as the tallest branch of a pecan tree or go as low as an herb searching for host eggs in which to lay there own. They do reproduce quickly and can colonize.

Today, June 29, 2007, three days after my birthday and one day before my 23^rd wedding anniversary, (It does take me several days to write these newsletters.) I was at a customer’s home on Brookcrest in North Dallas. For the last several years we have released T Wasps at one customer’s home. Directly across the street we have a part time customer. He calls us when his maintenance crew cannot handle certain tasks, so he is only a part time customer. This customer had an infestation of webworms in three trees, less then 20 yards away from the house where I have been releasing wasps. Today I released T Wasps in hopes of getting control of the next and future generations.

Next week, if the rains do not affect us as they are now, I will send a crew over to apply BT k.

In the last few days Karen, our store manager, found some information about a new product called Spinosad.

Spinosad (spinosyn A and spinosyn D) are a new chemical class of insecticides that are registered by the EPA to control a variety of insects. The active ingredient is derived from a naturally occurring soil dwelling bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa, a rare actinomycete reportedly collected from soil in an abandoned rum distillery on a Caribbean Island in 1982 by a vacationing scientist. It has not been found in nature since that time, and was subsequently described as a new species. The bacteria produces compounds (metabolites) while in a fermentation broth. The first novel fermentation-derived compound was formulated in 1988. Spinosad has since been formulated into insecticides that combine the efficacy of a synthetic insecticide with the benefits of a biological pest control organism.

Spinosad does not significantly affect beneficial organisms including ladybugs, green lacewings, minute pirate bugs, and predatory mites.

For those of you trying to control webworms you might try Dipel or Thuricide and if not happy with the results use Spinosad. BUT remember that Spinosad may affect some of the beneficial insects in your garden.

Things to do:
For those of you contemplating changing over to organic lawn care products, NOW is a good time.

Water is cleansing. With all the rain we have had, surely most chemicals applied to your lawn and landscape may have diluted enough to leave you with clean soil.

Fertilize with a granulated fertilizer such as Green Sense, at a rate of 20 lbs per thousand square feet. Mark down on your calendar to reapply in three months.

Apply Humate to helps aerate the soil. Humate helps break down heavy soil and speeds up the decomposition of organic matter creating pockets of air.

Aerate the lawn. Rain falls at times exceeded 2 and 3 inches per hour over most of North Texas. If you were stuck out in the rain you noticed the amount of force with which the water hit you. At 8 pounds per gallon that is a lot of pressure being used to compact the soil. Aeration can be done through mechanical methods and or biological. I use both methods on my property.

Brown Patch, Powdery Mildew and Black Spot. If I were a betting man, I would wager that every lawn in North Texas has some form of disease on one or more types of plants. Horticultural Corn Meal works well on grasses but not so well on plants that may have Black Spot and or Powdery Mildew.

When applied properly and in a timely manner Potassium Bicarbonate works best for me. I use it on my lawn as well as plants. Applied with Foliar Juice I not only feed the plants that I am applying the fungicide to, I also get a sticky solution. I repeat the application about every 10 days.

Plant. With rains predicted through mid July we are going to be able to enjoy much cooler temperatures then last year. By the end of this season all landscapes should be able to win garden of the month awards. Of course you will have to work for it. Enjoy the landscape once you can get out there to work.
*Pay attention to the plants in your landscape and remove plants that did not farewell last year.
*Add plants of interest to your landscape. Visit nurseries and look for unusual Native and or well adapted plants for your area.
*Replace trees damaged by the heavy winds that we have had this spring.

Come into Rohde’s and buy any 15 gallon or larger tree and get 40% off. Now through July 8th. This discount is for pick up only.

We will close at 3:00 pm on July 4th.