RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Uprooting garden pests made easy
| Tuesday, Jun 27 2006 6:10 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 27 2006 8:24 PM
Many of us host unwelcome guests in the summer. Garden pests can be a real nuisance, as well as destructive.
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Photos:
Bill Hurt of Lake Isabella took these two tomato worms off of his tomato plants in his garden.
Summer is prime visiting time for pests, especially (but not only) insects that are active when temperatures are high.
Bill Hurt of Lake Isabella received some unwanted guests last spring: Gophers threatened his tomato plants.
"Two looked like they were going to die," Hurt said recently.
He's tried just about every trick in the book to keep gophers out of his yard. Gopher pellets seemed to help, he said.
"I've got them controlled a little bit," he said.
If you want to get pests in your garden under control, we offer the following tips.
GOPHERS
n Gophers can be a problem for people who live in outlying parts of Bakersfield or areas where home landscapes are adjacent to natural vegetation and open areas, like Lake Isabella. Gophers can eat plant roots, causing the plant to die.
n Place chicken-wire cages around plant roots. This can help for a period of time, though gophers can dig above and below the cages.
n Trapping works if you want to do it. Robby's Nursery in Bakersfield sells traps for $5.79. The traps have to be placed underground so domestic animals can't get to them.
-- John Karlik, environmental horticulture and nursery production farm adviser at University of California Cooperative Extension, Kern County
POSSUMS, RACCOONS AND SQUIRRELS
n If you have a vegetable garden, put a fence around it.
n Bird feeders can attract these animals. If you're going to feed birds, put a guard underneath to catch food that drops.
n Don't feed these animals. You're training them to be dependent on humans for food.
-- Bowles
APHIDS
n Take a wet paper cloth and remove as many of them as you can.
n Remove them by hand.
-- Bowles
n Wait for ladybugs to arrive. They feed on aphids.
n Use the spray from a garden hose to knock aphids off leaves.
-- Karlik
n Aphids produce a sticky substance called honeydew. Honeydew by itself doesn't pose a danger to plants. The black mold that can grow on honeydew does. Spraying plants with water will help keep plants clean of honeydew.
-- David Haviland, entomology and pest management farm adviser, UC Cooperative Extension, Kern County
CATS
n When a cat misbehaves indoors, a gentle way to scold it is to squirt the animal with water. Apply a similar tactic outdoors. The "ScareCrow" by Contech is a motion-sensitive water sprinkler that sprays cats and other animals with water. It can be quite effective.
-- Stephanie Bowles, wildlife biologist at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
ANTS
n Use ant bait, which is generally effective and safe to use.
-- Karlik
n Place bait stations where ants can easily locate them but avoid placing them in areas accessible to small children and pets. Place baits near nests, on ant trails beneath plants or along edges where ants travel. Space them every 10 to 20 feet outside around the foundation and, if you can find them, at nest openings.
-- UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
n Most ant products on the market should not be used around vegetable gardens.
-- Haviland
WHITEFLIES
n There's no easy solution for getting rid of whiteflies. You can knock them back using a bit of high-pressure water. Over-the-counter pesticides won't do much good.
-- Haviland
EUROPEAN EARWIGS
n Earwigs can damage very young plants.
n Earwigs like moisture. Remove places in the yard that are cool and moist, like layers of leaves under shrubs and trees.
n One way to remove these critters is to place wet rolls of newspaper or corrugated cardboard in areas you know to have earwigs. Earwigs will collect inside the paper at night. Discard them the next day. One way to discard them is to shake them over a bucket of water and a little dish soap. The earwigs will drown.
-- Haviland
n To make an earwig trap, take a cat food or tuna fish can with half an inch of oil in the bottom. Fish oil is a good choice. So is vegetable oil with a drop of bacon grease. Place traps near shrubbery, ground cover or against fences. Dump captured earwigs and refill cans with oil.
-- UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
SNAILS
n Hand-picking works well.
n Place a board over two bricks. Snails will collect underneath the board. Gather the snails and remove them.
n Beer works as a snail bait.
-- Karlik
n Take several terra cotta pots and turn the pots upside down in the yard. Snails are attracted to the moisture and dark. Remove the snails by hand.
-- Bowles
Scales
n Apply horticultural or dormant oil to deciduous plants in the winter. This oil is sold at garden centers.
-- Karlik