Posts Tagged ‘insects’
Cutworms – Control
Q: Six weeks ago I had twenty pallets of Bermuda sod installed on my new home’s lawn. It was green when they put it down but within two weeks it was all brown. I watered it every day. Yesterday I...
Pantry Pests – Drugstore Beetles
Q: I have tiny brown beetles everywhere in my pantry! They crawl on the shelves and get in my rice. What should I do to evict them? A: The insects you have are called drugstore beetles. They are a common...
Borer Sprays – Effectiveness
Q: Last week you said that no borer sprays are effective on borers in pines and oaks. How can garden centers sell insecticides labeled “Borer Spray” if they don’t work? A: I have a hammer in my garage that I...
Internet Sites for Gardeners
Q: Do you use the Internet to look up answers to questions in this column? If so, what are some of your favorite sites? A: I use the Internet constantly to find information. For instance, last week a question regarding...
Hemlock Adelgid – Habersham county
Q: We have property on the Soque River at the northern tip of Habersham County. We have quite a few hemlock trees that have been showing signs of distress over the past several months. We first noticed some of the...
Turf Insects – Discovering
Q: My grass looks yellow and is gradually disappearing in a ten foot square area. How can I tell if this is caused by insects or by disease? A: Bugs in turf are very hard to find with the naked...
Stinkbug – Control
Q: I have a brown, funky-looking bug on my tomatoes. It flies and has large legs. Somebody told me it looked like a stink bug. Any ideas? A: Funky aptly describes stink bugs and their kin. Their body shape is...
Spiders – Beneficial for plants
Q: This morning we had heavy dew and I noticed my Foster Hollies and various surrounding shrubs were overrun with tented webs. Each tented web contained one small spider. They appeared to have a yellow striped body with a brown...
Butterfly Houses – Not Helpful
Q: My daughter gave me a butterfly house that she was told had some kind of special paper in it to keep out wasps. It didn’t work. I go to the hospital real quick if a wasp stings me but...
Gardening Books – For Children
Q: Could you/would you recommend just a few good books about gardening with kids in Georgia? A: I love “How Groundhog’s Garden Grew” by Lynne Cherry but I can’t think of any more books aimed specifically at kids. My wife,...
Venus Flytrap – Care
Q: I was at the new Children’s Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden last weekend and wandered past the bog exhibit. Kids there were putting their fingers into the Venus Fly Traps to make them close. This made me wonder:...
Tree – Climbing with Spikes
Q: I work for a tree maintenance company. Recently, we worked in a landscape a few weeks after the homeowner had had a television receiver installed up in one of his pine trees. The installer had evidently used spikes to...
Rat-tailed Maggot
Q: I found the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in an old log-filled trash can that had rainwater in it. When I poured out the water there were several white grub-like things that each had a long tail. They wiggled...
Wasps – Attacking Furniture
Q: For the last two years we have been plagued with a reddish-brown wasp that seems attracted to our wooden deck chairs. I have searched for a nest, but couldn’t find one. How can I rid our deck and yard...
Velvet Ant – Identifying
Q: On Saturday I noticed a large red bug crawling across my lawn. It looked like an ant but I think it was a wasp without wings. It walked at a funny angle with the rear legs higher than the...
Compost – Maggots
Q: I found a worm/grub in mass in my compost pile and am very curious as to what it might be. They are very dark gray-brown and the head end is actually the pointed end. They are literally swarming in...
Giant Resin Bee – Carpenter Bee Foe
Q: Each spring I battle with carpenter bees in my log home. However, starting each July, I see somewhat smaller bees, lighter in color, entering the circular holes left by the carpenter bees. They don’t seem to be worsening the...
Euonymus scale – Control
Q: 1. My variegated euonymus has lots of little white dots under the leaves and it doesn’t look very healthy. Can you diagnose? 2. I have a row of golden euonymus shrubs that have developed scale on the leaves and...
