Gardening Tools for Beginners
Summer is here, and that means it’s time for anyone interested in gardening to try their hand at it. Here, Business Insider shares some must-have gardening supplies for beginner gardeners.
With the arrival of warm weather comes the threat of summer insects.
While some people may simply hate bugs because they’re a nuisance, for gardeners, it can feel like a new battle with bugs every year as they try to determine which pests are ruining their plants and how to prevent them from completely destroying your crops.
Here are some of Michigan’s most pesky garden pests and how to get rid of them, said David Lowenstein, an integrated pest management specialist and consumer horticulture educator at Michigan State University.
Sawfly
Sawfly larvae, which are particularly problematic on roses, feed on leaves with their chewing mouthparts, and their chewing causes “glazing” — when the insects eat the material between the veins, causing the veins and the remaining plant tissue to collapse into a hole.
Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars, but Lowenstein said: The difference between the two To control the pests, insecticides that normally kill caterpillars have proven ineffective against sawflies, as their biology makes them resistant to the chemicals.
Lowenstein says you can use insecticides like insecticidal soap or neem oil to kill sawfly larvae, or you can simply pluck the larvae directly from the plant and toss them in a bucket of soapy water.
Termites
Box elder bugs only feed on the seeds and leaves of box elder plants, so they don’t actually cause any damage to most plants, Lowenstein said.
“They come in large numbers, so people get concerned when they see 50 or 60 of them on a tree or plant,” Lowenstein said. “Most of the time, they’re just bugs that congregate and don’t do any damage to the yard, so I don’t really do anything about them.”
Fall’s cooler temperatures may increase termite concerns, as they can swarm outdoors or even make their way inside your home. But termites don’t cause any structural damage and can be easily vacuumed up or blown off the side of your home.
more: Rubin: The good news is, it’s not too late to invite butterflies and hummingbirds into your life.
Slug
The newly hatched slugs are more visible this time of year across Michigan, especially in cooler, shady, moist areas, where they feed on ornamental plants and sometimes vegetables.
Lowenstein says there are a few ways to control slug populations in your yard.
- Decreasing congestion in areas of your garden that may be overgrown with weeds or trees will give slugs fewer places to hide.
- Be sure to aerate the soil in areas with poor drainage, otherwise soggy ground will be a great place for slugs to grow.
- Sprinkling diatomaceous earth around plants or problem areas will destroy the slugs’ exoskeletons, killing them on contact.
- Beer traps work by filling a small container or pot with cheap beer. The yeast in the beer attracts slugs, who then crawl into the trap and drown. But Lowenstein recommends checking the trap regularly in case the container becomes full of dead slugs or the amount of beer decreases, and replacing it when necessary.
Lily Beetle
Unlike other pests on the list, lily leaf beetles are an invasive species and don’t have many natural predators, making them a big problem, especially in southeastern and central Michigan.
Additionally, during their larval stage, the bright red lily-eating beetles cover their bodies in feces to prevent them from being eaten by predators.
Lily beetles can be removed from plants by hand, or gardeners can use insecticides to get rid of them, but Lowenstein says that if the beetles are already present, they’re likely to return.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this insect is going anywhere in southeast Michigan,” he said. “This year has been pretty tough for the lily beetle, so if they have an infestation one year, they’re likely to have an infestation again the next year, so you might want to treat your lilies in May, when they start coming out.”
But Lowenstein said he is working with a professor of entomology at Michigan State University on a project to control lily beetle populations using engineered parasitoid wasps, modeled after successful experiments on the East Coast. The wasps lay eggs inside the lily beetle larvae, killing them. Lowenstein said he hopes to release the wasps in areas hardest hit by the lily beetle next year.
Four-line stink bug
Four-striped stink bugs are what Lowenstein calls “generalist” pests, eating ornamentals, weeds, herbs, and just about any other plant in your garden, without actually killing the plants.
These insects have stinging mouthparts that leave brown rings as they feed on leaves, and although the damage is only cosmetic, because the insects are fast-moving, it can appear as if your plant has become diseased overnight.
Lowenstein said it’s best to leave the pests alone and let the plant grow, but if you really can’t stand the spots, you can treat the plant with insecticidal soap. However, he stresses that it’s better to treat plants that haven’t yet been exposed to the four-stranded plant pest to prevent irreparable damage. For plants that are already covered in brown rings, it’s unfortunately too late.
Since the bugs feed on weeds, it may also be effective to go outside and pull out weeds to eliminate the bug’s food source, Lowenstein said.
more: Scientists trying to solve bird flu mystery: Why is there so much virus in Michigan wastewater?
Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle
The brown recluse beetle is another versatile species that feeds on vegetable matter and leaves skeletal, leaf-like holes in ornamental plants.
Although the beetles don’t emerge until summer, they live as larvae in the soil during the spring and feed on lawn plants, which can cause your lawn to turn brown no matter how much water you spray from your sprinkler system.
“We get a lot of questions like, ‘Why isn’t my lawn healthy?’ and a lot of this is due to grub damage,” says Lowenstein. “Another way you can notice grubs in your lawn is if it’s been dug up by wildlife, which eats the grubs. If you have a lot of holes and you turn over your lawn and see more than 10 to 15 grubs per square foot, that’s a sign you should consider lawn care.” Eliminating grass larvaeThe best time to use insecticides is from August to October.”
Once the beetles reach adulthood, you can remove them from the plants by hand or install netting or other barriers to keep them out, Lowenstein says.
Insecticides should only be used in extreme cases, and pheromone traps, no matter how tempting, should never be used, he says. Traps are very effective at attracting scarab beetles, but if too many scarab beetles wash into the trap and it fills up, you’re left with more scarab beetles in your lawn than you started with. Pheromone traps are best suited for commercial use or for multi-acre properties, Lowenstein warns.
Tomato Hornworm
Tomato hornworms transform into adult moths, but as larvae they can cause extensive damage to tomato plants.
The caterpillars can completely destroy plant leaves and also bore holes in fruit and other produce.
Fortunately, tomato hawk moths can be killed by simply picking them off the plant and dropping them into soapy water, or you can remove the insects from the plant and save them to sell. Hawk moths make a good food staple for pet reptiles and amphibians, and they usually sell for over a dollar each in pet stores.