Pest Control

With all the recent rains, mosquitoes are here. First of all, remove any sources of standing water (that’s where they breed).

For your favorite birdbath, use Mosquito Bits in the shaker, for larger ponds or ditches, Mosquito Dunks, both totally safe for birds and frogs.

Mosquito Beater hose-end (Permethrin) is an easy spray to kill mosquitoes, ants, fleas & ticks throughout the yard. It is safe to spray on all plants where mosquitoes hide.

We also carry natural products to repel mosquitoes. Mosquito Beater Granules are a combination of natural essential oils to repel. They contain citronella oil, garlic, geranium oil, cedar oil, and lemon grass oil. Covers 4000 sq. ft and lasts up to 3 weeks.

Patio Egg Diffuser is an easy safe and effective way to help deter mosquitoes and other biting insects from your patio, porch and other outdoor living areas. It protects up to 200 sq. ft. and comes with enough refill oil to last up to 4 months.

-Deanna

Take a close look at the stems and leaves of your Jatropha. Do you see large white clumps of soft scale? This insect begins along the stems looking like a pale yellow goo. After a day or two the yellow soft scale produces a white cotton covering to protect itself from insecticides and predators.

Insecticidal Soap or Neem Oil can be used in the evening to kill these pests. Cyonara hose-end is also very effective. Many insects thrive in the summer, so be good bug scout. While watering or walking and admiring your landscape, take the time to get a closer look to see if any of these summer insects are attacking your favorite plants.

-DeAnna

Are you challenged with caterpillars, leafminers or whitefly every year? On your bougainvillea, hibiscus, ash or oak trees? If so, now’s the time to apply Bayer Tree & Shrub Drench. Be careful though, not to use on your herbs, veggies & fruit trees.

Another great drench and less expensive, Fertilome Tree & Shrub Systemic Insect Drench doesn’t work well on caterpillars but is great for wooly aphids in hackberry trees, asian cycad scale on sago palms, lace bug on lantana, aphids and whitefly on crape myrtle or even mealy bug that attack your hibiscus every year and drive you crazy with spraying. Again, do not use systemic insecticides on herbs, veggies & fruit trees.

It’s best to monitor your plants and spot spray individual plants when needed, but we all get busy and so the systemic may be the best option for you. We have both products in stock now for your spring application.

We always recommend you use the least toxic product to get rid of damaging insects. For example, aphids get on more plants than anything else in the spring, but on the bright side, they are also very easy to control. Sharp sprays of water many times works to rinse them off the new foliage.

Whatever your insect challenge, come and see us for help in determining the best way to control them. Many times you do not need to spray but rather let Mother Nature take care of the problem with her many beneficial insects preying on the damaging insects. We have ladybugs in stock right now, a great beneficial insect and fun to watch!

-DeAnna

You would think with our cold winter, snow and 2 freezes in the 20’s all the insects would have frozen. But no, there seems to be an explosion of nature’s critters this spring. Hot weather insects have started early. Aphids on anything and everything, spider mites are in abundance on roses, angel trumpets, hibiscus, junipers and more. Chinch bugs are beginning in the lawns, and scale is erupting on cast iron, flax lily and more. Be a good bug scout. Look and observe, and remember a few bugs here and there are not always bad. If you see an insect infestation that won’t be controlled by nature or patience and needs treatment, come and see us to help identify the problem and get you the right solution.

-DeAnna

We’ve met so many kids over the years (as young as 10 months old) who really get a kick out of gardening. While kids and teachers are on a much-needed break from school next week, and the weather warms up, try a fun gardening project at home!

March is the perfect time to plant vegetables from seeds, including beans, okra, radishes, pumpkins, and watermelons. Now is also a great time to start small tomato plants, peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, and strawberries. You don’t need to be an expert or have a ton of space to get started – these fruits and veggies can be grown in garden beds or in containers. Kids love watching their plants start to grow and getting to eat their fresh and healthy food once its ripe!

Fruits and veggies are fun and so are flowers! Plant Cosmos, Zinnias, and Sunflower seeds now to get beautiful color and attract butterflies and birds. Marigolds and Petunias are nice and easy!

We have child-sized gardening tools and gloves, colorful flags, bird houses, bug houses, and all the seeds, plants, and supplies you might need to create a fun space for kids to enjoy gardening.

-Jesse

Spring is here again, and as plants and flowers wake up, so do unwanted guests such as aphids and fleas. Some of the most effective ways to eliminate these pests and many others is to use beneficial bugs. We keep Ladybugs, Beneficial Nematodes, and Earthworms on hand here at Gill’s to get rid of pests and improve the health of your lawn and garden.

Ladybugs

Fun facts about Ladybugs- Ladybugs aren’t really bugs at all, they’re beetles. There are almost 400 different kinds of ladybugs in North America.

Female ladybugs can eat as many as 75 aphids in one day. They also like to eat scale, mealybugs, and spider mites.

Ladybugs smell with their feet and antennae. A ladybug’s jaws chew from side to side instead of up and down like our jaws. The color of a ladybug’s spots begin to fade as it gets older.

Ladybugs are most active when their body temperature is 75 degrees or warmer. A ladybug’s bright color warns birds that it does not taste good. When a ladybug flies, its wings beat 85 times every second. Female ladybugs are larger than male ladybugs.

Aphids are the first pest to hit in the spring and they love the new growth on plants. Buy your ladybugs now and keep them dormant in the refrigerator till your first outbreak of aphids, then release a few hundred at a time.

Use Ladybugs to help eliminate:

– Aphids
– Scale
– Mealybugs
– Spider mites

Beneficial Nematodes

Beneficial Nematodes are microscopic creatures that live in soil where they feed on the eggs and larvae of soil borne-pests. They’re voracious predators of fire ants, flea larvae, and white grub worms (the grubs that eat plant roots).

Beneficial Nematodes are the ideal organic pest control because they’re a naturally occurring predator of pests, but they don’t harm plants, animals, or people. They’re completely non-toxic and they’re easy to use.

You mix the nematodes with water, and then put the solution into a watering can or sprayer. A hose-end type sprayer is fine, as city water is fine to mix with the nematodes.

Speaking of water, beneficial nematodes do need rain or supplemental watering in order to live and reproduce in your soil, so they’re not appropriate for dry land farms or completely xeric landscapes.

Use Nematodes to help eliminate:

– Fire ants
– Fleas
– Grub worms

Earthworms

Earthworms, or Red Worms, are popular due to their many useful applications. Each Red Worm ingests its weight in organic matter every 24 hours.

They excrete a highly effective fertilizer called castings, which are high in nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, potash, and calcium, which are all great for your soil, grass, and plants!

These castings can also help repel chewing and sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, and hard-shelled plant bugs; the chitinase (an enzyme) from the worm castings, which is absorbed by the plant, kills the bad bugs when they eat the plant leaves.

Use Earthworms and their castings for:

– Improving and aerating soil
– Fertilizer
– Starting compost
– Repelling chewing and sucking insects
– Fishing bait!

Now is a great time to get some good bugs and worms (ladybugs, beneficial nematodes, and earthworms) – before the bad bugs (aphids, fleas, mealybugs, whiteflies, fire ants, spider mites, and grub worms) arrive!

-DeAnna

Are your lantana looking rusty brown like a fungus has attacked them? Well it’s not a fungus it’s a lace bug. These are common this time of year to attack lantanas leaving them looking ugly and half dead. This problem is easily fixed by pruning back the ugly plant either one third to half way depending on the damage. Rake up the bad leaves which will be eliminating the majority of the bugs, fertilize with your favorite plant food and water in, then spray with a multi purpose insecticide like Cyonara Lawn & Garden or Organically with Spinosad Insect Control. The plant will quickly recover like nothing ever happened putting on a flush of new growth and blooms.

Photo: Plantanswers.com

-DeAnna

*Working organic material into your soil helps plants thrive*

“Organic gardening” is a broad term that in its simplest form means caring for your garden or landscape without the use of synthetic fertilizers or harsh pesticides, but for many of us, it means so much more.

Organic gardening is a lifestyle that involves looking at how things interact as a system, knowing the steps you take to “go organic” play a key role in that system. Let it be a bad bug, fungus, or even watering issues, there are organic solutions that are safe and work with nature. One of the biggest steps is creating and maintaining healthy soil.

Plants start from the ground up and having good soil is a key factor for healthy plants. You can work organic material into your garden like compost and organic fertilizer to help the soil.

Our soil is living and has all types of beneficial microbes and fungi living in it. While using a synthetic fertilizer may give the plant some of the nutrients it needs, it does nothing for the soil. Using an organic fertilizer and compost to amend your soil gives living organisms in the soil the nutrients they need to thrive.

If your soil is thriving, your plants can thrive as well. A healthy soil and a healthy root system make for a stronger, healthier plant that will need less water and less maintenance.

Having an organic garden encompasses a healthy more sustainable approach to the way we live; our homes, community, and world! Organic approach is made of small factors that play a big role in a system that keeps your plants healthy and not only that… it keeps us healthy!

Remember, put good in and get good out!

-Wyatt Page

Pest Control

Ladybugs

Beneficial Nematodes

Earthworms

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