It’s Mosquito Time!

It’s Mosquito Time!

Even the low-desert in Arizona has mosquitoes. With the upcoming rains it is important to check your yard and gardens for standing water. Here are some typical places to check:

• Ridding your backyard of standing water. Common places include old tires, buckets, wheelbarrows, gutters, and pet dishes.

• Emptying plastic wading pools, birdbaths, plant pots, or drip trays every four to five days.

• Draining standing puddles, ditches, tree holes, or tree stumps.

• Ensuring your swimming pools and decorative ponds/fountains are clean and operational.

• Fixing or installing window and door screens around your home, and properly maintaining your evaporative cooler.

• Avoiding over-watering your lawn.

For more detailed information about mosquitoes and to get an email with WHERE and WHEN Maricopa County is spraying the pesticide check their website: or cut & paste this into your browser - http://www.maricopa.gov/Public_Health/HotTopics/wnv/

Mosquitoes are more than annoying. In some parts of the U.S. they carry the West Nile Virus. You can help repel them from you naturally by applying these to your skin and you will smell great too! Use Vanilla Oil (REAL vanilla oil from Mexico) or Lavender Oil dabbed on your wrists.

Safe Gardening,
The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Earth-Friendly Garden Quiz-January Question #2 -Mosquitoes

Earth-Friendly Garden Quiz-January Question #2

Last weeks question: The common housefly is probably the world's most common pest.  But not all flies are detrimental. Which of the following are good for the garden? a. crane fly, b. robber fly, c. syrphid fly, d. tachnid fly, e. all of the above?

The answer: All are good! Crane flies-sometimes called mosquito hawks-look like giant mosquitoes, but they don't bite people.  The adults usually feed on nectar, although some species eat other insedts.  The larvae eat decaying plant matter.

Robber flies swoop down and grab flying insects out of the air. Their long legs have spurs that immobilize the prey, which can include just about anything-even bees. As larvae, they live in rotting wood or in the ground, eating insect eggs and larvae.

Syrphid flies, also called hover flies, look like bees and hover over flowers.  As adults they eat plant nectar, making them perfect pollinators.  As larvae, they eat aphids, mealybugs, and other garden pests.  To attract the adult, plant daisies, marigolds, and sunflowers.

Tachnid flies are large gray flies that lay eggs on cutworms, caterpillars, or the eggs (or larvae) of harlequin bugs, Japenese beetles, and other common garden pets, which their larvae then eat!

Answer courtesy of the Sierra Club Earth-Friendly Garden Knowledege Cards

Only one person answered last weeks question correctly.  You still have a chance to win a book on sustainablity.  The person who is first to answer the most question WINS!

Question 2.

What are some ways to reduce mosquitoes in the garden?

Hint: NO pesticides!

Just make you comment below for a chance to be a winner!


Happy Digging!
The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

It’s mosquito time!

Even the low-desert in Arizona has mosquitoes. With the recent rains it is important to check your yard and gardens for standing water. Here are some typical places to check:

• Ridding your backyard of standing water.
  
• Common places include old tires, buckets, wheelbarrows, gutters, and pet dishes.


• Emptying plastic wading pools, birdbaths, plant pots, or drip trays every four to five days.


• Draining standing puddles, ditches, tree holes, or tree stumps.


• Ensuring your swimming pools and decorative ponds/fountains are clean and operational.


• Fixing or installing window and door screens around your home, and properly maintaining your evaporative cooler.


• Avoiding over-watering your lawn.

For more detailed information and to get an email with WHERE Maricopa county is spraying the pesticide go here.
http://www.maricopa.gov/Public_Health/HotTopics/wnv/

You can help repel them for you naturally by applying these to your skin and you will smell great too!

Vanilla Oil – REAL vanilla oil from Mexico – repels mosquitoes

Lavender Oil – dab it on your wrists – repels mosquitoes

For more natural garden remedies from your kitchen click here.

Until next time - Happy Digging,

Doreen aka The Garden Goddess
www.down2earthgardens.com