This week in the garden is the proliferation of the monarch and swallowtail butterflies along with the dragonflies. These are good things; however, it also has been the week of squash bugs. These fleshy bugs run along the squash vines that suck out their juices causing distortions in leaf growth. It is hard to control these bugs because they hide underneath the leaf and near the soil line. Some use glue boards but that can bring in a host of problems especially if you have a dog or cat that goes into the garden. The use of Neem oil is becoming popular because it does not harm beneficial insects along with some Pyrethrins. For a heavy infestation, use Carbaryl (Sevin) spraying at night to protect the honeybees. Late in the fall, remove all debris from the garden.
Some people find a lot of wasps in the garden or around fruit trees. Wasps generally have a high-protein diet in the summer and when fall comes along, the diet changes to a high-sugar diet. They are eating the rotting fruit so now you find them around. They are not harming anything so if you remove all the rotting fruit from the ground, the wasps will most likely leave.
Mushrooms like the shelf mushroom and jelly mushroom are growing on tree trunks. They are not causing any harm to the tree but are a symptom of the tree’s health. With the winter we had and the heat of the summer, trees are struggling. Give plenty of water and do not fertilize. Fertilizing this late causes premature growth delaying the hardening-off process for the coming winter. Also, do not prune, wait until March or April.
I notice the garden centers have their offering of fall mums now. If your containers look worse for wear, plop a mum into it. After they bloom, you can try to place them into the perennial bed to see if they make it through the winter. You do not ever know their variety so therefore you do not know their hardiness. Cushion mums are easier to grow than the more upright ones.
