Garden Pests Archives - Page 2 of 2

March 9, 2020May 11, 2021

How to Keep the Plants in Your Garden Healthy

Gardening is an amazing hobby that helps you feel closer to nature while at the same time cultivating new life. A garden can also be a great way to add some beauty to your backyard and attract lovely wildlife like birds and butterflies.

If you have your own garden, there are lots of things you can do to make sure your plants thrive. Here are a few things you can do to keep your plants happy and healthy.

Keep Pests Away

Some of the plants in your garden might produce lovely flowers for you to enjoy while others might produce delicious fruits and vegetables for you to eat. Unfortunately, though, you aren’t the only one who likes to feast on the produce in your garden. Certain bugs and pests love to make their home in your yard and eat the plants that you have been cultivating.

Certain species of moths, aphids, and beetles will be attracted to your garden for multiple reasons. The shade of your plants provides a cool place for them to live while the leaves and flowers growing there are ideal foods for them and their larvae to eat.

If you detect any signs of a bug infestation in your garden, call in a St George pest control service as soon as you can so that experts can deal with the issue. If bugs are given too much time, then they will destroy any leaves growing on your plants. Without their leaves, plants will be unable to soak up the sunlight they need to perform photosynthesis.

Learn to Compost

Composting is a sustainable way of providing your plants with the healthiest, richest soil possible. It is also a way of feeding your plants without the use of synthetic store-bought fertilizers. Lastly, it is a way for you to repurpose any food waste that you would ordinarily have thrown in the garbage.

Learning to compost isn’t difficult at all. You can construct your own compost pile or you can purchase a container that will turn your food waste into compost material for you. Whichever method you choose will help you obtain some seriously nutrient-dense soil for your plants to grow in.

Keep an Eye Out for Weeds

Weeds are some of the peskiest things that can grow in your yard. They seem to come out of nowhere, and as they grow, they will steal the nutrients and water from the soil that your garden plants are trying to grow in. The best thing you can do is to keep a watchful eye on the ground in your garden to catch weeks as they sprout up.

There are some weeds that will require professional assistance to get rid of. Crabgrass and certain types of ivy can be incredibly difficult to banish. There are certain things you can do in order to make the soil in your garden less hospitable to weeds that damage your plants, but overall you should just be vigilant.
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This post may contain affiliate links and I might receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking on a link

March 25, 2019

Bats in the Garden: Gardener’s Best Buddy

Who hasn’t seen “The Dark Night Rise’s”. There is this part where he goes down the cave behind his mansion and embraces his lifelong fear of bats. Then he ends up being a bat-man himself.

What an impressive superhero that was for Gotham. Have you ever wondered how a bat is useful for our ecosystem?

There are almost 1240 species of bats – subdivided into two categories as Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera. Except for the Arctic and Antartic regions and some other cold islands, bats are found everywhere in the world. In some places, you can find hundreds of species.

But the question still remains; what use our nature can have, for a ‘Bat’. Well, here are some important features of a bat that makes it vital for many ecosystems.

When we lived in San Antonio, there is one of the largest bat caves in the United States, they estimate when the bats come out to feed in the evening there are approximately 20 million Mexican Free-tailed Bats, they roost in the cave from March until October. Its quit a site, check our the video.

Source: Pinterest Bats of all kinds are good for our ecosystem

But the question still remains; what use our nature can have, for a ‘Bat’. Well, here are some important features of a bat that makes it vital for many ecosystems.

Impact of bats on the environment

Bats have various feeding items with their varying species. Some feed on fruits and vegetables while others feed on pollen, nectar or insects.

The bats who feed on pollen and nectar are very useful for plants. Just like bees, bats are also a source of pollination hence providing food for other herbivores. In fact, some plants depend fully on bats for this purpose, so some plants have developed special glands to produce nectar to attract bats.

Some houses build a small wooden house to attract bat in the garden. According to Pet Comments, a good bat house that may attract bats is one that’s built to have an open bottom, as a way to prevent bat droppings from accumulating inside it and also avoid birds from nesting there.

Almost 500 species of flowering plants rely totally on bats for pollination as the pollens tend to stick to their furry bodies, so these plants open their flowers at night.

For some fruit plants, bats serve as a way of dispersing seeds. Some tropical plants depend entirely on bats for such services. This service is very vital in areas where trees are continuously being cut down.

Insects are the favorite midnight snack for many bat species. Bats consume a large number of insects for their size. According to an estimate, insectivorous bats can eat over 1.5 times their body weight.

Many bats feed on vertebrates like lizards, snakes, and frogs. Especially the Fringe-lipped bat is skilled at catching frogs. As most bat species use echolocation to locate their prey so they can hear the mating calls of many animals and the feed on them via their location – hence decreasing the need of insecticides and pesticides and save farmers from spending millions of dollars on these pesticides which are in fact harmful for the ecosystem itself.

Many bats feed on mosquitoes and according to some numbers; bats can eat a massive number of around 1200 insects in an hour of feeding hence decreasing the source of diseases like Malaria and Dengue.

Bat dung also known as Guano, is mined from the caves where they are found in abundance and is used as fertilizers – hence providing farmers with a cheap alternative of packaged fertilizers. It has a positive effect on crops compared to your regular ammonia fertilizers.

Guano has 10 % nitrogen and 3 % phosphorus, so it avoids N&P poisoning for your plants.

Fossilized Guano is sold at very high prices in the black market because of its rarity.

Some cultures around Africa and Asia, take large populations of bats as a sign of prosperity for their harvest.

You can also make your garden, a bat-friendly environment as they can help you in pest control around your house. They don’t need any attention and would do you no harm – as who would dare to go out in dark to disturb them, and why?

How to set up a bat house

Many species of bats have gone extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction. In this scenario, many organizations and people around the world have started to set up bat roosters.

You can also put up a roost, but there are some things you need to keep in mind.

Firstly, the bat house should be small, but not so narrow that it cuts off the air flow. Bats like a narrow space just like the space between a tree’s barks.
The bat’s house should have a near water reservoir. Bats require a lot of water, as they can lose 50% of their body weight without frequent water intake.
Bats also like a small garden. These attract nocturnal insects which are any bat’s favorite midnight snack.
You should also consider the proper location of the roost as it should be a way you’re your house and should be in a location where it stays warm, as bats tend to like warmth.

Related:
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I picked out my favorite feathered friend feeders I use and I might receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking an affiliate link at no cost to you.

November 7, 2018

How To Detect Pests In Your Lawn And Irradiating Them

For many people your home is your pride and joy, it is the most expensive thing that the average person will ever purchase. People work all of their careers to get their home and they want their home to be perfect. When people get their home they take a lot of pride, they want every little thing to be perfect. Not only do people pay attention to how they decorate their home, but they also pay attention to their Landscaping, the quality of the lawn and every little thing. One enemy that can destroy your yard, that can destroy your home, that can destroy your hard work are pests that can cause a lot of issues.

if you pay attention to any of the commercials that come on during the warmer months of the year, there is no doubt that you will see plenty of Pest Removal products for homeowners to purchase. Sometimes these products can be really good and other times they do not live up to what they promise. A lot of homeowners buy these products, a matter of fact it is a billion dollar industry. As we talked about earlier, people take a lot of pride in their yard, pests are just annoying, they can be very dangerous to the health of your yard. They not only make it look unsightly, but they also damage your grass and your plants.

Identification is one of the most important things. Identification is very important because you need to know what type of insect is destroying your yard. If you use the wrong type of chemicals and products that is not made to destroy the specific pest that is taking over your yard, your results will not be good at all. So, the first thing you have to do is to identify what type of enemy are you facing.

For the average person, discovering the type of insect that is causing a lot of issues is not the easiest thing to do. The average person simply does not have the experience to make this form of identification. Of course, there are many resources on the internet that might be able to help you. A lot of these things will show you pictures of the most common type of yard enemies. The problem with this is that a lot of times you don’t actually see the type of insect that is causing issues. What you’re left with seeing is the type of damage that they leave.

Without the proper experience, it is very difficult to gain any type of advantage on the pest that is taking over your yard. You might go through dozens of different products but not have any type of success. Some might tell you to keep on trying until you have figured it out. One solution that people use is to find a product that is of general use that can destroy a lot of different variety of pests. this probably is the very best solution for a do-it-yourself type who is determined to do it all by themselves.

An even better solution is to call in a professional company who knows what they are doing. I have already established that it can be very difficult to handle these kinds of problems on your own. What we do know is that by using a professional company that things will go a lot better. A professional pest control company spends a lot of their time handling these problems each and every day. They not only know how to identify the pest that is taking over your yard, but they also have the right tools and techniques to completely eradicate and Destroy them.

It is beyond obvious choosing a professional company is a very best route to go. They have all the tools and experience that can help you achieve your goal of a pest free yard. They save you a lot of time and in many cases a lot of money. Homeowners often go through a ton of different solutions attempting to go about things by themselves. That not only waste a lot of time it can waste a lot of money. Choosing a professional company to handle your yard pests eradication is the best way to go.

Now that we have established that choosing a professional company is the best way to go. We now have to choose a very specific type of company. The truth of the matter is not all pest control companies are created the same. Some will have a great reputation and a great track record. Some might not have any verifiable reputation or track record at all. A lot of them might not have a great reputation, they just might be an average company who does average work. The vast majority of them will just be mediocre who do just enough to get by.

Obviously, your goal is to find a really great pest control company, who can eradicate the pest who is taking over your yard, they must have a really great reputation, they must have a strong track record, they must be great communicators, they must be the type of company that you will enjoy using. Finding that type of company is not all that difficult when you do your research. Doing your research for such a company as that comes down to looking into the reputation of a handful of companies and choosing the best one. This is the absolute best way to find a company who can solve your problem.

Insects that become a pest to your yard, who not only make your yard look unsightly, also caused a lot of damage, they can attack you, and they simply make enjoying your yard difficult. If you choose to go at it alone, find the best products that you can find that can help you. If you want the very best solution to find a professional company with a great reputation who No Doubt knows how to solve your problem quickly and professionally. Choosing what type of company is the best thing that you can do.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I might receive a small commission if
you make a purchase using an affiliate link.
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Related:
Garden Series: The Pros And Cons Of Chemical And Biological Pest Control In The Garden
5 Tips On How To Change Your Lawns To Organic

February 22, 2018

Top 5 Most Common Pests Found in Texas

Everything is bigger in Texas, and unfortunately, that sometimes includes bugs. Texas is home to hundreds of different species of insects, and while many do not pose a threat, there are others you will want to eliminate from your home immediately. Do not hesitate to contact a wildlife and pest control service if you are worried one of these pests has made its way into your house.

Spiders

Around 980 species of spiders reside in Texas. Most of these are harmless, and many are beneficial to have around a garden. However, Texas is also home to the brown recluse and black widow spiders. Until a professional comes out, you need to be extremely careful around piles of firewood as spiders often make their home in these dark, reclusive places.

Scorpions

Scorpions often do not travel in packs, but you will have a severe problem is scorpions decide to make your home their nest. The stings are typically not deadly, but they can be painful. The main way to keep scorpions away is to have your house regularly sprayed as a preventive measure.

Mosquitoes

Texas is home to around 85 species of mosquitoes, including the dangerous Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, which can bring chikungunya and yellow fever. Although Texas is dry most of the year, there are still plenty of standing water for mosquitoes to gather around. Keep standing water out of your property, and repair any pipes or faucets creating ponds immediately.

Cockroaches

Most of Texas’ roaches are found by the Texas Gulf Coast. They prefer this more humid climate, and without prompt pest control in San Antonio, their populations will explode in your home overnight. They spread diseases, and you need to throw away any food that roaches come into contact with.

Ants

Fire, carpenter and acrobat ants are all found in Texas. The state is also home to the dangerous crazy ant, which is known for its erratic behavior. At their least aggressive, ants will damage the foundation to your home. At their most aggressive, ants can cause painful stings. Avoid getting too close from a colony.

Human Ticks

Theres always the chance of human ticks that are found in wooded areas and can cause Lyme disease. And there is an easy way to stop them from carrying them home by using a tick repellent for humans

Contact a commercial exterminator from Terminix as soon as you notice a pest problem around your house. Unfortunately, pests are common around Texas all year round, so you may want to invest in preventive measures frequently to keep insects out of your home. Contact Terminix through their online form in lieu of getting rid of a potentially dangerous pest on your own.
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