One of the unwanted visitors to the spring garden arrives just about now. That mass of tiny pests that cloak the new growth on your roses, elderberries, viburnums, or peach trees are at best an unsightly nuisance and at worst, creatures that can damage tender new growth on plants and spread disease. They’re aphids! Aphid […]
Unwanted spring visitors Read More »
When homeowners spot a small animal scurrying across the kitchen floor or digging in the yard, they may wonder if they have a problem with voles or mice. Both of these rodents are five to eight inches long and have gray or brown fur; voles are stockier than mice with shorter tails, larger eyes, and
Is it a vole or a mouse? Read More »
Have some houseplants that seem to be looking a little pale or notice some sticky stuff on your orchid? Take a closer look at your indoor greens and you may find something more than dust. If you see fluffy white material like tiny pieces of cotton nestled in the cracks and crevices of plant stems
Bugs on your houseplants? Read More »
Enjoying your houseplants but noticing some small flies zipping around the soil? They may be fungus gnats. These dark, delicate-looking flies look similar to mosquitoes. They’re attracted to light, so you first might notice these pests flying near windows indoors. Check your plant pots. If the soil in the pots is overly moist, fungus gnat
Got gnats buzzing around your houseplants? Read More »
It’s National Spinach Month, and a good time to consider growing your own little crop of greens. This easy to grow plant is generally seeded directly into the ground, and not transplanted. Check out this video on planting and harvesting spinach. While the featured yard is in zone 5 versus our Marin zone 9, all
Snails and slugs can mow down your spinach Read More »
Fall is a busy time for tree squirrels as they comb their environment for food to store for the winter. While they can be fun to watch, they can also be a real nuisance for bird feeders and the garden in general. They feed on a variety of fruits, nuts, and other crops and plants,
Squirrels making you nutty? Read More »
Summer brings the peak of yummy fruit – plums, peaches, berries, apples and of course, tomatoes. These are some of the favored foods of rats, so be sure to clean up the garden if you’ve got any falling to the ground. Learn more about controlling these pesky critters without poison!
Just as you bite into that big, juicy apple, fresh off your tree, you catch sight of something that shouldn’t be there; that worm in the apple is no cute cartoon. Most likely it’s the larvae of the codling moth, a serious pest of apples that also attacks pears and walnuts. This insect pest can
A Worm in the Apple Read More »
