Garden pests

How do you get the groundhog, Bill? My neighbor used to put firecrackers in the hole.

We have a major slug invasion after Irene. Any pots had a collection on the bottom of them, whether I'd stacked them in our shed or tied them to my deck. They especially loved strip tease hosta. Now I think there's a real reason for that name!

I wonder, would they react like leeches if I poured salt on the bottoms of pots? Really, I'm just too busy squishing them.

Jen, could you have had hail during the storm? Would account for the holes in the trees.....My sister has been complaining about a groundhog as well......no problem here, guess the fence stops them.....

i used a large havahart for raccoons - tomato with peanut butter on it

For slugs you might try grit around your stacks of pots. Holes in the tree leaves, winter moths?

Thanks. Yep, my garden has been totally consumed with winter moths this year. I hope to have to spray less next spring because of all our tree work this year. I've written the leaves off this year.

Because of the weather conditions they came late to spray this spring & those moths had already started on the Am beech in our front yard. Can still see the holes. We only spray near the house, can't go the 800 ft + to the end of property. but it has made a difference over the last 3 yrs. I think they use 'horticultural oil'. I keep forgetting since DH knows about it.

My nursery guy told me to just spray the maple trees or anything within 30 feet of them, since they're the host. Since the eggs are laid for only a about a week, I guess we have to act fast in spring.

Our trees are all mixed up.

I bet it looks beautiful.

It was a result of the woods colonizing open space on their own. Woods on all the lots which were wacked out of the area.

My praying mantis hatch always the first week of June here they are all white after coming out on thin white strings.

Here they are today waiting for the rain to stop close to the house. They really have grown in three months. Can you find the two in this picture.

I'm thinking the smaller one is all brown and should be a male. The larger one is brown but has green on the underside and is a good third larger. Waiting to see which one is still alive at the end of this month. I bet the larger female one will be left.

Thats is so cool, have never seen baby ones before! :)

Wow, you are so lucky to have them....I rarely see them around here....

nice.. I only saw one once by my neighbor in her azaleas

I've caught 4 ground hogs this year! And that is after about 3 years of trying! I'm so pleased, as they really destroy my garden every year. I also caught a few rabbits, but just the small ones. I caught the ground hogs with apples and cantalope in the traps. Unfortunately I also caught 8 racoons. I say unfortunately because I don't think they harm the garden and it's a pain to deal with them. I take them to an animal wildlife preserve that is about 8 miles from here. (I hope I"m not just catching the same ones over and over. I think that's far enough away that they won't come back.)

I always wonder about that myself

Probably not far enough....my Dad was always trapping squirrels & letting them go in the city parks....well, he spray painted a tail...sure enough, he was back! My Dad then began driving them about 15 miles to a state forest....don't know if they came back from there, but he didn't think so......no more painted tails!

Never seen praying mantis that little
My bil found a male in our yard on Sunday and watched him for at least an hour to see if he'd go after something to eat...he never did. I think he just didn't want an audience

Good idea about spraying the tails of the animals you trap to see if it's the same one, you'd have to do different colors for different days to find out which one it is, though

Anyone ever see a GOLDEN BEETLE? DH and I had one come in the house the other day, don't know if its friend or foe.

DK, but it's pretty. Reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories.

I thought the same thing!! Love EAP and Sir Artur Conan Doyle.

He's very pretty...didn't find him in my Audubon book.....

Golden Scarab beetle but don't know official name...all scarabs eat plants

as long as it's not the ones from the mummy movie
http://youtu.be/GJP8XTzpOCw

Gorgeous little guy! I'd be willing to share a few broccoli leaves with him just to get a look in person.

Tomato hornworm totally ate 1 of my bhut jolokia pepper plants. Jim said it should of melted.

Tough to lose plants.

Guess they can't relate to the heat! Maybe only mammals can, but I'm not sure....

I'm starting to see more stink bugs hanging on the house....time for exterminator's quarterly service...

Yeah - here too.

Stink bugs & wasps!

stinkies are picking up here too

new for this year
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1266312/