We use to have a lot of slugs but haven't in a long time. This year it is snails. I pick them off and thow thm down the driveway into the street. I sure hope when they land and bounce a couple times that they get a splitting headache and a split shell. What do you do to get rid of them?
I have never had so many of them before.
We are also having a bad year with fire ants. Nasty things. My 2 DGDs are here this weekend and I will have to watch them close. 51/2 and 31/2. I want to have them outside helping me plant, or me plant and they play. At the RU I won a door prize and there was 2 cans of silly string and 2 bottles of bubbles. I chose them so we could get each other this weekend. I was told it was intended for kids that were there and not a door prize and I said it was ok as it would be greatly enjoyed. I am not childish I am Child like. Me and my DGDs will grow up together.
Now if we could just get there Dad , my DS who turned 30 on the 2nd, out of his terrible 2's.
Blessings,
Sandy ^8^
Garden Visit
I don't have slugs that I know of, but have snails every year. So at the first sign I get a bag of snail bait from HD. Early morning after a rain is the best time to apply it. By the next day you can see their dead selves laying all around. :-)) Some people put out a pie pan with beer and they will be drawn by the yeast and then drown in it. But my dogs would probably drink it or tip it over, so I haven't tried that one. The granules are sprinkled at the base of plants and they eat it and DIE! The best snail is a dead snail. I haven't figured out anything that eats them or benefits from them in any way. I haven't thought about the chemical maybe killing cats, so I need to check into that. Usually it is only early spring I am plaqued with the snails.
Flies start out early here to but I have used the fly rescue bait bag for them. HD or Lowes carries it. You add water and hang it up, stinks to high heaven but traps the flies great. I am on my second bag already. The bag fills up and then you just throw it away. It doesn't draw bees or wasps, just the flies.
Sheila, that is a good thing to know about the flies, I wish they made one for mosquitos,
Josephine.
Well, you could just hang me up in the tree.:) They wouldn't die from biting me, but atleast they would be distracted from biting everybody else.
I was going to buy some of that stinky fly bait once, but the guy that was selling it told me that it stinks so bad you don't want to put it anywhere near your house.
My friend down the street said that she uses Bounce dryer sheets for mosquitos. She rubs one on her arms and exposed parts of her legs, then lets the sheet hang from her pocket, and it does seem to keep the mosquitos away!
I also heard there's some hand lotion or something that Avon sells that repells mosquitos. I can't remember who told me that. Has anybody tried this?
I thought it was the skin so soft stuff--but my brain could be addled. I go for the deep woods off if I'm working in the garden..mosquito bites always seem to bruise on me. Thin blood or veins or something. And I always get so filthy if I'm working I need a shower anyway. Something much less smelly than off would be nice for just sitting and enjoying the yard at night.
I use some stuff I get at the health food store that smells really pretty good. Its call Dschungel Juice. It's a blend of herbs and does work really well, but if it's a really hot humid day, you'll have to refresh it after a few hours.
I have tried the Skin-So-Soft by Avon, and it won't keep them from biting me, except for short periods. It is great to put on after I have gotten bit to calm the itching though.
The Deep Woods Off is my best defense too Debbie.
Oh, and if you have a problem with wasp, they do make a rescue trap for them too.
The fly trap smells horrible, but I keep it about 20 foot from the back of the house behind the shop. I did have it the other side of the yard last year until I heard my neighbor rustling around looking for a dead fish he thought jumped out of his pond. LOL! Yeah, it smells bad! But once you see the number of flies it attracts and kills you will be sold.
I use Off Skintastic for head and arms and Deep Woods Off on my legs (mostly for chiggers), but with all the barn swallows we allow to nest under the porches, we have very few mosquitos during the spring and summer. When the birds migrate in mid-September, the mosquitos really multiply.
The birds do make a mess on the porch, but I have a little power washer and clean frequently. It's a way to play in the water in hot weather. Mother, next door and a no-mess person, has put up deterrents so they won't nest, but our birds feed in her area too.
Me too, Debbie, on the shower. I always need one after working outside. Maybe someday I'll have things to the point I can just sit and enjoy, but it's far from there yet.
I've heard that lemon balm is supposed to work to keep mosquitos off, but mine never lives long enough for me to find out.
Patrob...yet one more herb for me to get. LOL ditto on the seldom time to enjoy--have to enjoy while "weeding" and "mulching" here.......
Debbie
What is the difference between Snails and Slugs? I thought Slugs were Snails that had los their shells. NO? Oh well ... oh well I think I got both ... I see empty shells all the time. Lord, I sure hate mosquito time! I saw a billboard that say they will come out and spray your yard and its guranteed ... I wonder what that is all about.
Anyway I am a Deep Woods Off person myself. I have tried that Avon stuff, but it has small amount of deet in it so it wont smell so bad, but after spraying any of that stuff you got to shower ... all of it make you feel nasty ... and nothing stop those mosquitoes from zinging around your head! lol
Sylvia
I got my first few bites today right before dark. I kept thinking I need to stop and get some spray on.
I haven't enlarged a flowerbed in a long time, but when I was doing that nearly every day after work and all afternoon on Sunday, I used to wonder what it would be like to just sit on the patio and enjoy all the beautifully arranged plants and artistically designed flowerbeds. Ha Ha Ha. I still don't sit on the patio. But I do enjoy the fruits of my efforts, however unartistically designed they are, as I pull those weeds out. And once in awhile somebody drives by and says they like my yard and that makes it all worth it.
Oh Sheila I know what you are saying ... you go running outside to do something ... get involved ... the mosquitos start biting ... on the way back in ... you dicosver something else you didnt do ... you stop ... get bitten again and it goes on until you start foaming at the mouth! lol
I got to find my spray so I can leave it outside ... need two or three cans out there ... its just like your tools ...never know where you leave them. lol
Does anyone other than me continously lose their hand held clippers? I have 3 pairs right now and can't find a single one...I swear I have to buy a new pair every other month. They must either walk away or somehow get buried under the mulch. I've probably spent more on hand held clippers than I've paid for all my plants and believe me, I have only been buying the cheapest ones at HD for years now. Is it possible that aliens are now abducting them instead of people? LOL
Debbie I think if you pay dearly for them ... you tend not to lose them. I lost my Friskars at the Arlington RU. I posted that I lost them ...Bless Mitch and all his infinite mercy found them and saved for me. I got three or four Trowels, but the one with the red handle is always easy fo me see where I stuck it last. I got a lot of clippers that were left out in the rain and they all rusted ... one of these days I will soak in something and try to clean the up. I got some Lopers too, I for got what I bought them for ... I just love buying tools . lol
I like buying tools too, Sylvia. My MIL asked me once what I wanted for Christmas and I told her loppers and hedge shears. She laughed and said shouldn't I be buying those for Tom? I said "No because he doesn't use them, I do. Besides he has his own that he uses when he goes out to work on the deer blind. I need my own pair that will be in the garage and not rusted from being left outside when I need them." It did feel really empowering to have my own tools.
Sylvia, spray those rusted tools with 409. It'll fix them right up!
I'm always losing my little clippers, too. Maybe if we attached tall, day-glo "flags" to them (like some people attach to bikes & scooters so they can be seen from a distance in the street.)
I wish I could find some "holsters" for them, so I could just keep them on me. They are too sharp to just stick in a pocket or apron.
What's the easiest way to sharpen the curved blades on the bypass pruners. That's my everpresent battle. They're nice and sharp when you buy them, but sharpening that curved blade is a problem for me.
Patricia, I didn't know 409 would clean up rust. That's really good news.
Mary, I agree there should be holsters for pruners. BTW how's the granite project coming along? Can't wait to see what you make with that. We have some people putting tile in our shower and have a bunch of scrap tile. I need inspiration and ideas.:)
409 Pat? we are talking real rust here. A guy told me to soak them oil that you buy for the car ... I never buy that stuff... then clean them up WD40.
Sylvia, I'm brain dead! Not 409 lol, WD40! It's one of those number thingies!!! 409 is great in the shower, but not for rust.
Whew! I beginging to worry about you Pat. lol
Sylvia, sometimes I need to be worried about!
Looks like a big red (on the radar) storm is on top of Mary Lee in Fredericksburg right now. Hope it's not too bad. It is going to another night full of thunder and lightning in Central Texas. We are grateful for the rain, but everyone around here has had all the hail they want for a long time.
Yes Patricia, we are getting bombed right now. I had justtaken all my hostas back out in the yard last night. I had to go out in the hail and bring them back in. Poor babies! So far no other damage.
Darn! I can't believe you guys keep getting hammered!
It's Spring in Texas.
It was hot as all out here! ...and I was parked on the top floor, the steering wheel was hot I could hardly drive.
Looks like it is dying down for the night, so I am headed for bed. Spring in Texas just about covers it.
Yes, the hail quit. There's a large mesquite branch down in the empty lot next to us, but that's all the damage I see so far.
DH doesn't want me to leave my hostas in pots, but you know what? I don't want them planted in the ground and defenseless in a hail storm. Poor things. I'm keeping them in pots and portable.:)
...that right Marylee ... if those slugs get them, it would be worse than the hail. lol
Ya'll get rain yesterday? Not a drop here...but rain all around.
Debbie
It looked like we were going to get dumped on and we could even hear thunder, but we didn't get a single drop either. Rats.
~ Marylyn
Had to get out there tonight and "hand water: some of my RU plants...if the weather would just get evenly dispersed through out the state; no one would ever flood, dry out, catch on fire, freeze, have hail, shovel snow, ever worry about storm surges, or ever have any diseases or insects in their gardens. I think I'll leave on my rose-colored glasses for a few minutes longer.....
Debbie
Debbie you are a riot! lol
Thank you Sylvia...I think your pretty cool too!