House pests

Dog Ticks Around the House

This week there are questions about how to rid dog ticks around the house. Good question. Dog ticks survive in tall grassy areas with shade because they like humid, sheltered locations waiting for some animal to pick them up.

The easiest way to reduce the number of ticks is to keep the grass cut, especially under trees and shrubs. There is less population of ticks on a well-groomed lawn than on a weedy lawn. The broad leaf weeds provide more shade.

If you have overgrown shrubs, next spring prune them to open them to sunlight. It will be good for the health of the shrubs and hedges. Remove any trashy areas in the backyard.

If you wish to spray with a chemical, do it in the evening. We do not want to be killing beneficial insects like honeybees. Spray especially the brushy areas, along the perimeter of the lawn especially in the country, and groundcovers. Permectrin sprays are good as a repellent for the lawn.

One organic control is a spray with Metarhizium brunneum, which is a fungus found in the soils being effective in reducing tick populations. You would have to order this from a nursery catalog or online. According to consumer reports, the Wondercide yard spray with Natural Oils works as a treatment and repellent which is safe for pets and people.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

Native Tree to South Dakota

Do you have a hard time getting trees to grow because of your location where you want a tree? Try a native tree to South Dakota recommended by SDSU.

Boxelder Tree

My favorite is the boxelder tree. Now before you yell at me, it is only the female tree that attracts the boxelder bugs. You can buy male trees which do not attract bugs. Boxelder is a soft-wood maple with a 45-foot, rounded growth habit. They take a little more water when young but become drought tolerant later on. There is a “Sensation” variety with yellowish foliage.

American Linden

American linden is a stately shade tree growing 60 feet in height. It has white drooping flower clusters. This tree has many cultivated varieties.

Kentucky coffee tree

Kentucky coffee tree grows to 50 feet tall. The leaves resemble the leaves of a honeylocust only much larger. The seeds are nutlike clusters that were used by early Americans as a coffee substitute. There used to be a coffee tree in the Winner Park years ago.

Hackberry tree

Hackberry trees a tough, drought-resistant, and pH tolerant making them a great choice for a shade tree. The leaves often get nipple gall, which are small bumps on the leaves but do not harm the tree.

Honeylocust

Honeylocust creates a light shade for people that do not want a dense shade in their yards. This tree has many cultivars like “Shademaster” (larger leaves than the typical honeylocust), “Skyline” (ferny leaf appearance), and “Sunburst” (with yellowish foliage), etc. Newer varieties do not get the pods or thorns.

Black walnut tree

Black walnut is grown mainly for its wood in the furniture business. The tree needs room to grow to 100 feet tall. The leaves are compound divided growing over a foot long. Walnut roots produce a growth-inhibiting chemical that keeps other trees and plants from growing beneath them. Bluegrass will grow beneath the light shade of the tree.

The black locust, not related to the honeylocust, is a smaller shade tree around 50 feet high. It has beautiful drooping, fragrant flowers of pink to red in the spring.

Container gardening, Landscaping decor

Stunning Flowerpots

Creating stunning flowerpots for your patio or front yard takes three things: a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. A thriller is the tallest plant in the center of the pot with colorful foliage or flowers. The spiller is the plants around the outside that spill over the lip of the pot. The filler is the plant that fills in the pot, shorter than the thriller plant. If the container is viewed just on one side, the triller plant is placed on the backside of the pot.

As for the color palette, go bold with either leaf or flower color. You will want to contrast your colors from the triller plant to the spiller plants. Go with the reds, oranges, and yellows.

Dahlia and petunias

The main thing to keep in mind is if the pot will be in the shade or sun, so use the plants accordingly. Coleus, impatiens, begonias, and many vines will thrive in shade. Do not forget that ornamental grasses make a good pot choice.

Tuberous begonia

You can use your imagination on what to use as a flowerpot from cattle tanks, and wooden crates, to an old fountain. Usually, the larger the pot the better, you will be watering it less. They are also heavy and not prone to the wind tipping them over. Just make sure they have drainage holes.

Fountain grass

Place the pots at your front door which creates a sense of destination. Pots in flowerbeds give the dimension of height.