Keep Mosquitoes and Ticks Out of Your Yard

After writing about pests for three weeks, I decided to keep on topic by writing about mosquitoes and ticks. Who does not hate mosquitoes and ticks? They can absolutely ruin your garden time and make cook outs miserable. If you're like me, then spraying a bunch of pesticide everywhere and bathing in DEET doesn't sound desirable. Before you grab the chemicals, try a few natural methods to reduce their presence in your yard from the get go. I'm not getting into personal bug spray here as that's not my area of expertise but rather going over ways to keep them out of your yard.

Mosquitoes

First, and most importantly, get rid of all standing water in your property. Mosquitoes don't need a lot of water, small puddles in discarded tires or old buckets are plenty big for laying eggs. Be sure you're not providing good reproduction habitat by getting rid of standing water.

Second, encourage the mosquitoes natural predators. If you have the space, and it's not against your zoning laws, you may want to install a bat box to encourage bats to your property. Bats eat lots of bugs. If that creeps you out, you can install a purple martin box as they too will be happy to eat your mosquitoes for you. If you really want to keep the pond on your property, then put in some Koi fish to eat the mosquito larvae. Dragon flies also eat mosquitoes but I have no idea how you'd attract them to your yard.

Third, try planting mosquito repelling plants around your patio and back yard. I've not tried this myself but many people swear by it. Plants that are most often recommended to repel mosquitoes include: marigolds, lavender, rosemary, basil, garlic, catnip, and geraniums. Actually, is kinda sounds like you just plant an herb garden which I highly recommend anyways. You can read more about growing herbs here.

Fourth, for special occasions, I don't mind burning a citronella candle  or the tiki torches. I wouldn't bother with them all the time for the hassle and expense but for a party of some sort, it could be a great idea.

Ticks

Oh, how I hate ticks. A hundred itchy mosquito bites are nothing compared to the vile grossness of finding a tick half buried in your skin. One of those nasty things got me last November and the memory of it still sets off my gag reflex, and even that is nothing compared to the awful diseases they carry. Here in PA, we are in prime Lyme's disease territory. Having had a few friends battle the disease has made a strong impression on me so keeping ticks away is a big priority.

If you have the option, chickens LOVE to eat ticks and are great and keeping them out. I've been told three wandering hens can clear an acre of ticks.

If chickens are not an option, then be sure to eliminate their habitat in your yard. Don't leave piles of old leaves lying around or let your grass get too long. I have no value for a perfectly manicured lawn but a shorter cut one won't attract as many ticks. Leaf piles are the worst.

Small rodents carry ticks so anything you do to keep them off your property will also keep the ticks away.

Ticks, apparently, don't like to walk on wood chips or gravel so if your property is connected to a woody area, try putting in a three foot buffer of either material to keep them out.

Wood piles can really attract ticks (and rodents) so if you have any on your property, keep them neatly stacked in a full sun area.

Finally, according to Rodale's Organic Life magazine, beauty berry bushes have been shown to repel ticks. Even if they don't, they're really pretty so why not plant a few?

So, there's my best advice on preventing bug bites in your yard. Do you have any natural prevention's you like to use? Feel free to comment in the area below.

Getting Rid of Pests Part 3

In the previous posts, I wrote about strategies to keep damaging fungus and diseases and also bad bugs out of your garden. In this third and final post on garden pests, I'm going to give you some strategies for preventing animal damage. Whole books have been written on this subject so my goal is to give you some great ideas to get started.

What do I mean by animal damage? Squirrels, rabbits, mice, voles, groundhogs, dear and more can get into your garden and eat it long before it's ready to be harvested. Nothing is more disheartening than seeing months of work destroyed over night by the local wildlife. To prevent this happening to you, consider some of the strategies below.

Fencing
One of the most effective methods for keeping out animals is fencing. Of course, the type of animal you are keeping out determines the type of fence you put in. I've had great success keeping out rabbits with cheap chicken wire fencing from the hardware store. $10 for 50 feet. If you're keeping out burrowing animals (moles an voles) then the fence needs to go at least 6 inches into the ground. If you're trying to keep deer out, then it needs to be a taller fence. The only animal it won't work on is a squirrel.

Scare Crows
It's a long running tradition in gardening - scare crows. They may or may not work for you. My advice is to only put it up during the season so as to prevent the animals from getting used to it. An alternative to the traditional scare crow is a fake owl. Owls prey on lots of rodents, Another take on the same idea is to hang up shiny things, like aluminum plates or flashing tape as they are supposed to scare away animals away as well. However, to me that just looks like you have garbage hanging up in your garden so I'd be reluctant to trying it.

Encourage Natural Predators
There are only two ways I know to do this. First, if you live around a wooded area, then put up an owl box to encourage nesting. Seriously, you really want birds of prey in your area. We are really lucky to have lots of hawks around us but I don't know how you can set out to attract them. But you can put out a box for owls. Second, and I know this is controversial, is to get an out door cat. It's not the PC thing to say but my mother never had problems with rodents for decades, until she no longer kept barn cats. It's something to consider.

Trap and Release
If you're the compassionate sort with the time and means, then you can trap and release animals to another area. I've heard of people having good success with squirrels this way. Of course, you need to check with your local municipality to be sure it's legal where you live. Speaking of legality...

Well, those are my best suggestions. What has helped you to keep animals out of your garden?

Getting Rid of Garden Pests Part 2

The summer of 2015 was rough. Something had infiltrated my garden and was systematically destroying my cucumbers, zucchini, melons and winter squash. It looked like some mildew or fungus was turning all the leaves yellow. Not until it was way too late did I realize the problem was squash vine borers. Needless to say, I didn't get much off of my vinning plants that year.

In a previous post, I wrote about good gardening practices for preventing  damaging disease and fungi in your garden. This post will address preventing and treating unwanted bugs. Many of the principles that help prevent disease will also prevent bad bugs. So if you're already buying disease/insect resistant plants, providing an ideal garden environment, and practicing garden rotation, then you're already on your way to keeping bugs out. You can read my previous post here.

To keep damaging bugs out of your garden, encourage their natural predators. Loads of birds love to feast on insects so encouraging them to your yard via bird baths, nesting boxes and bushes to provide shelter and food is a great idea. Protecting your berry bushes aside, you really do want birds in your garden. You can encourage many great beneficial insects (like lady bugs and praying mantis(pictured)) by not spraying toxic chemicals near your garden and by leaving them alone when you do find them. Many times in our attempts to get rid of bad bugs by spraying harsh chemicals on them, we also kill off beneficial bugs at the same time.

For larger pests, like tomato worms and potato bugs, you can pick them off by hand an either A: squish them (we do with tomato worms even though it's really gross) or B: put them in a used water bottle with a little soapy water or gasoline. Yeah, it's a pain but it does work.

Another suggestion that I meant to include in my first post was if you see an infestation starting on a plant, whether it's a fungus or insect eggs, remove the plant or part of a plant and put it in the trash. Don't try to compost it, just get rid of it. If you catch it early enough, you might prevent an outbreak.

I didn't get into mosquitoes and ticks in this post because that really warrants it's own post. Want more info on bugs? Here you go:

10 Most Destructive Insects and How to Get Rid of Them

Enlist Beneficial Insects For Natural Pest Control

12 Plants That Repel Unwanted Insects