Slow progress
So I have decided that with this blog, while it's going to have a huge focus on inverts I will also chime in on other subjects as well. Mostly because they do have an affect on what takes place with my invert care. Not to mention that with gardening and renovating an old home, I will be running into inverts along the way. As I do I plan to also write about my experiences, what I see, and how I solve any of my 'pests' issues.
The Steps
First, I spent the morning and early afternoon cleaning out a step walkway to one of the gates that enters the front yard from the drive way. Now this walkway is actually a bunch of stones placed to make steps down to the gate. However it was over grown with grass and weeds. So much so that it didn't seem like a good idea to try and enter the yard from that entrance at all because you didn't know what little crawlies you'd get on you if you did so.
In my little adventure of clearing out all of that, I ran into several grass spiders, harvestmen (commonly referred as daddy long legs), a nest of black ants, and plenty of earwigs. I don't know the exact species of each of these considering each one comes in a variety so I'm going with common names for this instance. That's not touching on the insects I didn't see but were probably also in the area at the time.
Because it's been so dry here (We are having one of our worst droughts in years, which has only helped feed the severe wildfires out here in Montana.) I haven't run into any worms at all. I did not get to see any isopods during all of my weeding and grass pulling around the rocks. Even under the rocks it was bone dry and dusty, nothing to be seen. They were most likely much deeper in the earth where there was some moisture still. A lot of Montana has gotten rain or snow these last few days, it's really helped the fire fighting efforts but where we are has yet to see a drop of it.
For the most part though everything fled or went searching for new dark spaces to live in. Except for the black ants, I'm not sure what species they were. I did get bit by something today on the ankle, and more then likely it was one of them. It managed to get revenge on me for disrupting everyone's day in the area with my clean up spree. I did take pictures of the work I did, and those I posted on our new facebook page. You can click the facebook icon above to go to it and check those out and follow the progress we make on renovating our home, setting up the gardens, as well as progress made towards big projects I have planned for various enclosures too.
So back on topic, I cleaned out a lot of the over grown plant growth among the rocks. I do plan to spray the area with a water/vinegar solution to help keep grass from growing in again next year. I have to be careful though because I still want plants to grow around the walkway so I have to make sure I spray just in those small places and just what little bit I need to make that work. This should make the PH level of the soil more acidic and hopefully not suitable for grass or weeds. Least that's my hope, of course any acidic soil loving plants might try and set up shop, only time will tell.
The Flower Beds
As for the flower beds I had a lot of grass to clear out with them, as well as die off for all of the plants that grow in the beds. The climbing rose that is planted in one of them, it's trellis was fallen over to the side completely useless and the rose vines were growing all over the place. It also had not been trimmed back in at least a year or two from what I could tell. I had a lot of trimming and removing to do. Then I set up the trellis again, stabilizing it with some rocks so it wouldn't fall over so easily this time and wove the rose vines in it.
There were other plants that I could tell were actually planted in the beds by someone but I'm not sure what types they are. I have to work to get them identified, and because it was so dry as well as in the 50'sF, I didn't see much activity. The most activity I saw were spiders fleeing from their homes made in the grass. I did see a couple of pretty big beetles under rocks that got shuffled some with my grass removal but I didn't think to take a picture at the time.
Now I do in part feel bad for destroying the homes of the critters that have made them in the mess that has grown in those flower beds. However for the health of the plants it needs to be done. Once I have it cleaned up and start taking care of it like it should be, they wont set up shop in the same way. I also was careful to avoid killing anything as I went, well outside of the grass and weeds I was pulling. Again a sacrifice made for the betterment of the plants I DID want in that area.
The Wasps...
I did not run into any wasp issues today while I worked, however the men delivering our firewood did. Which brings me into the topic of Wasps and what I actually do to help prevent them, but be able to utilize them in my garden. Wasps are very beneficial in plant care because they will eat the insects that prey on the plants that we keep. This is one reason I dislike killing them or setting up traps to catch them.
I have come to learn that wasps are not as scary as we tend to view them. Of course knowing what I do know still doesn't exclude me from the sudden 'Oh God It's A Wasp RUN!' reaction when I get startled by them. Nor does it change my protective nature when I see one in the house and I'm worried about my son getting stung. But it has helped me work out in the garden along side them peacefully, ...when I'm fully aware they are in the area.
Wasps get aggressive and hostile when protecting their homes. Which is understandable and we can't fault them for that. We're the same way after all. When running into wasps away from their nest they are not as prone to murder as we act like they are. It just takes a calm mind and some respect in order to have peace with them while you work. I've pruned strawberry plants while wasps fed on the over ripened strawberries before without any rise of alarm.
Because I do like them in the garden to take care of pest insects that would hurt my plants, that means I can't set up traps to attract and kill them. It also means that I do want them to set up their nests nearby, however I don't want the nests in or near high traffic areas. So I have to take preventive methods to ensure they do not build their nests in areas that would lead to their hostile defensive behavior.
Now the house we are moving into, unfortunately, has several wasp nests in areas I don't want them in. Because my peaceful means of dealing with them is preventive, it doesn't work once a nest is established. And because of my son and the need to work on the house and other things, we have had to kill them quickly using chemical sprays even though I hate using harsh chemicals to do it. Again, I feel bad but it's an unfortunate necessity.
I have had to spray both paper wasp nests and yellow jacket nests not only on the balcony rafters and under the balcony, but also in the wood shed and some of the rafters there. I thought I got them all, however I was wrong. When the men came by to deliver the firewood that I had ordered they were attacked from the alley side of the wood shed because there was even a nest in the tree limbs, as well as the large accumulation of pine needles on the roof that probably hadn't been cleared off in years.
So again the wasp killer spray was brought out and used. Thankfully none of them were allergic, but one did get stung three times and the other two were stung as well. They had loaded some of the wood at the start through the hatch into the wood shed, but after the wasp attack it was opted to put the wood under the alcove of the building next to it.
They unloaded the cord of wood rather quickly, though it wasn't fully split. In fact in terms of splitting there was very little that was actually in small enough sizes to fit the wood stove. The rounds were massive, I have pictures posted that show my son standing next to one of them. He's actually rather tall for a four year old, though to help put it in perspective the one he was next to was probably 2 feet from one side of the round straight across to the other one? And that wasn't the largest one of the bunch.
Tomorrow they are supposed to finish splitting it. I assume because they planned on coming over tomorrow to do so, that's why they didn't put the wood in an organized pile but opted to just toss it out to get it off the truck so they could do whatever else they needed to do today. Needless to say they left it more in a pile and mess under the alcove and what they threw in the wood shed before the wasp attack. I managed to get what I could stacked and then roll the rounds I couldn't lift into manageable rows though. Hopefully tomorrow we wont run into any more wasps when getting it done.
Preventing Wasps
So I mentioned prior that I do things to prevent wasps from nesting in areas I don't want their nests in. My method revolves around the Mint plant. Most plants actually give off aroma's to attract insects like wasps or other predatory insects to help protect them from the insects that will prey on the plant. However Mint is one of the few plants that opts out of using predatory insects to protect it, and instead gives off an aroma to repel all insects instead.
So my first line of defense in some places is to have mint growing in areas I don't want wasps to nest. Having mint in a hanging pot has worked for me with rafters, if you want to have mint planted in the garden you can do that as well. Though it's good to actually have mint planted IN a pot in the ground because it will very quickly and easily spread it's roots and itself as far as it can go. Keeping it in a pot keeps it from spreading and taking over your garden.
Now of course though we can't have mint growing in every nook and cranny to keep them away. So for the areas I don't want wasps to nest but can't or don't want to grow mint, I instead spray down with basically mint 'tea'. I crush fresh leaves and then I put that in warm water and let it set for a good half hour. Then I separate the leaves from the water and put the now minty water in an all purpose pump pressure sprayer. You can get these at Walmart for like eight or nine bucks. I also have one just for water so I can water the plants in enclosures and refill water bowls.
After I've got my spray made I will spray rafters and other wooded areas or surfaces that wasps are known to make their nests on. I will do this every few days in the spring during their nest founding time. The time when they are looking for a good spot to put their nest for the season. After this time has passed I can get away with not needing to spray anymore and the areas will stay clear of any wasp nesting. Now I can go about without worry, and I benefit from wasps who have made their homes well away from our high traffic areas still coming over and eating the unwanted insects in our garden. Only now when running into them it will be without the hostile and aggressive behavior that they have when feeling their home is threatened.
I have tried and done this for the past few years and it's worked without real fail. Of course anywhere I lived wasn't as large as the home we are in now, so we will see just how well it works when I have so much area to spray. Again this is a preventive method as well. If you were to spray it where they have already set up their nest they are more inclined to take care of the nest then get away from the smell. But if it smells bad to them from the start, it will register as not an optimal nesting location, and instinctively look for a more promising area.
A huge shout out to all of those who have been fighting the fires and doing their best to save peoples homes and land. Our fires have received very little national media coverage even though we have lost over 1 million acres to the wild fires, including historical buildings and peoples homes. To anyone who has been fighting these fires or helped those in need during these times, thank you and please be safe out there.
