What Pest Do Deal With In Garden ?

[Nyboy]

All of my peach trees have been stripped of peaches. I am not sure but think it was squirrels. Deer have eaten a Illinois mulberry tree I mail ordered. Coyotes have wiped out the cat population and now chipmunks are everywhere, for some reason they like digging in containers planted with flowers. What pest do you have to deal with ?

 

[thistlebloom]

Here at home there's not much of a problem with animal pests. Although the front vegetable garden last year got hit by deer and gophers. The deer don't get up by the house so my hostas are safe. I spray the apple trees on the driveway with deer repellent so they leave the apples alone.

Last year the new neighbors were feeding them, and this year I hear they munched on all their new fruit trees. What can I say? If you invite them for dinner they're gonna stay for dessert.

My jobs in town are a different story. The deer are bold and unafraid, birthing their fawns in the shrubbery and eating whatever pleases them. This year they are ignoring the repellents and munching the blooms off everything.
I love venison more than ever.

 

[ninnymary]

Rats have come over to my yard after a neighbor fumigated. So far I've managed to stay a little ahead of them by harvesting my nectarines and peaches as soon as they started on them. They've eaten a green tomato or two. I'm concerned for my apple tree. Last year they took a big chunk of every single one! Traps are not working and I'm encouraging surrounding neighbors to set out traps anyway and to clean up their yards.

I also have those darn earwigs and sowbugs. I plan to stay on top of the with Sluggo Plus even though it's expensive. I really want to try to grow a fall garden of greens.

We have squirrels but they don't seem to be a problem. Maybe it's because they have their meals next door where my retired neighbor feeds them. They must like his cooking more than my fruits and veggies.

I have to watch the blue jays on my blueberries but my best plants are tented with netting. They haven't discovered the uncovered one and we've been able to eat those.

Mary

 

[Nyboy]

Is it cruel that I think " invited them to dinner there going to stay for dessert" funny

 

[digitS']

Polar bears and Wolverines ...

What's with all the tolerance and support for deer in residential neighborhoods? Yes, it should not be legal; animal control should have a major role.

I saw a marmot run into the neighbor's raspberry jungle this week. Bad news but I think he's coming from some distance. I will need to see if there are burrows, nearby.

Mountain cottontail rabbits. There is where neighbor tolerance has a real influence. The huge marmot burrow at the corner of a distant field should be an embarrassment but everybody loves the bunnies ...

Flower thrips don't bother most gardeners. I know they can drive the orchardists buggy because they can severely limit tree fruit. Maybe it's the nearby cherry trees to both gardens that cause so many thrips to invade the dahlias and such. I cannot tolerate them. The neighbors with the cherries have more fruit than they know what to do with.

Spider mites. The evergreen trees and bushes can be loaded with them. They can be a death sentence for some garden plants.

Those are the uncommon insect pests, I suppose. Aphids and cabbage loopers can wreck an entire bed of cabbage. I have to pay attention ...

Flea beetles are great opportunists. Since they are so mobile and seem to thrive on just about any plants, they can show up and swarm things!

Here's something with very limited mobility: Colorado beetles. Are they on the potatoes or tomatoes? You know what they really seem to want to eat??? Nightshade weeds! They will strip tiny weeds before moving to the veggies. Gotta pay attention to that. Get those weeds outta there - half of them will have orange beetle eggs under the leaves.

Much of it has to do with me. I bring in these garden plants which aren't well adapted and they become stressed and vulnerable. Being specific about what I can do to control the pests and trying one-2 combination punches make my limited defense more effective.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Here's another one ... I'm on a roll!

Leaf hoppers. There are quite a number of instars as they mature. The "spittle bug" stage isn't just kinda disgusting. I mean, who wants to find what looks like a glob of snot on their lettuce leaves or garden flowers?

The adults are major plant disease vectors. That's what the literature says and I'm just narrow minded enuf to blame any disease problem on leaf hoppers.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh yeah, spittle bugs! They don't seem as bad this year for whatever reason. Last year the pines gleamed with their spit and now and then you could get dripped on if you stood still long enough underneath one. They were all over all the landscape plants too.

I'll tell you my opinion of why deer are tolerated in neighborhoods. It's because everyone grew up on Bambi, and all the Disney animal flicks. If the deer looked like wild hogs (but still behaved like deer) they wouldn't be put up with for one minute.

 

[ninnymary]

Oh yeah, spittle bugs! They don't seem as bad this year for whatever reason. Last year the pines gleamed with their spit and now and then you could get dripped on if you stood still long enough underneath one. They were all over all the landscape plants too.

I'll tell you my opinion of why deer are tolerated in neighborhoods. It's because everyone grew up on Bambi, and all the Disney animal flicks. If the deer looked like wild hogs (but still behaved like deer) they wouldn't be put up with for one minute.

Haha, are you saying we judge others by how they look?

Mary

 

[catjac1975]

All of my peach trees have been stripped of peaches. I am not sure but think it was squirrels. Deer have eaten a Illinois mulberry tree I mail ordered. Coyotes have wiped out the cat population and now chipmunks are everywhere, for some reason they like digging in containers planted with flowers. What pest do you have to deal with ?

Squirrels will do it in the afternoon you were out. Were they ripe? They like them ripe.

 

[Nyboy]

Not sure I am only there weekends, which makes every thing much harder. Long term goal is trees should be mature when I am ready to retire.