Pest Worm/Caterpillar

BY SKEETER

 My GEORGIA GARDEN has seen some Pest's lately. I must say even a pest, this Pack Saddle Worm/Caterpillar is one cool looking critter!

 Look but DONT TOUCH as this is a cat with a bite! Bite in the form of a painful sting from those fuzzy little hairs you see. Also this guy has fake eyes on his rump as you see in this pic.

 Here, you see the face and mouth munching on my Banana Tree. Isn't this a cool looking critter? We just let it enjoy the tree for a couple days then it went on its merry way.

 What is the Saint doing to his Bald Cypress Tree with that long pole and brush?

 He is pulling out Tent Worm nests!

 At this stage, they do not look like Tent Worms. Click HERE to see more on Tent Worms. Maybe these are fuzzy baby's.

 Our Tomatoes are long gone and were most enjoyed by us this summer. As they began to fizzle out, we spotted this Horn Worm. We found it neat how this critter holds onto the stem of the tomato plant.

 The worm munched on this and another small and not so pretty tomatoes for several days. 

 Not to be confused with Raspberry's but what we assume to be Hornworm poop! Ewwwwww.... See the worm has moved onto another mater in the background.

 Now comes a mystery Pest for us. Here you see the Trolling Motor on our boat. Look at the White dots to the left and right of the name brand.

 Zooming in you can see one of the holes better. This is where the Motor Cover is screwed onto the unit.

Once we break the white coating, a nest is revealed.

 And a Pupa falls out! These things will nest in any small hole they can find. We find them in just about every screw hole on our boat! We have no idea what they are but they can wreak havoc on machines such as Weed Whackers, Lawn Mowers, etc. We once discovered one on the boat motor clogging up the water out take! The Saint had to jump into the lake and remove it from the motor before it over heated and killed our motor! Does anyone know what these things can be? We are baffled and do NOT take kindly to these PEST WORM/CATERPILLARS, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Japanese Beetles Totally Stink!

It is Japanese beetle time in Tennessee and I can tell you they've hit us like a plague of locusts. Last year was not really all that bad; which was nice but not normal. This year, though I hate to say it, is most normal. We are inundated with Japanese beetles. The roses are skeletons, we can't walk in the garden without experiences a slow large flying beetle trying to get in our hair or face. And let's not forget what most of the beetles are doing in the garden when they are not eating. Or perhaps they eat and mate at the same time?

I have always been a person against beetle traps. I have never ever purchased one for home use. I preferred, because I read it somewhere, to not attract the beetles to my garden with the pheromone baited traps that usually include a big yellow bag. Oh yes, I was smart that I was, until....

I got a Japanese beetle trap sent to me by Rescue, and I tell you it could not have come at a better time and is an EXCELLENT deterrent against the beetles. I was a bit skeptical about it helping out with getting rid of the terrible Japanese beetles but was I ever pleasantly surprised! 


The instructions said to set up at least 30 feet from desirable ornamentals. This trap only has a 30 foot reach with its scent attracting pheromones. I decided to put my trap near my perennial border but on the outskirts. Within one hour I saw the amount of Japanese beetles on my Knockout roses decrease by at least 80%. It was a very noticeable difference. Within that same hour the bottom of the large yellow bag (I would prefer a more subtle color but perhaps it is part of the bait and trap plan?) was two inches full with squirming, doomed, Japanese beetles.


Now, back to my original problem with thinking traps attracted Japanese beetles to my yard. No! I do not believe that at all. When the Japanese beetles hit they pretty much blanket the region where they are located. They find suitable food (think Knockout roses, crepe myrtles, 4 O' Clocks, trees in the prunus family, marigolds, night blooming jimsonweed, and butterfly bushes, amongst many others) and they mass themselves on these suitable food sources and devour the foods until there is nothing more to eat. I realized the beetles were already in my yard and not my neighbors because I had all their favorite foods! So, when I put up the trap and it began collecting all those beetles and lessened the amount of beetles on the roses (the roses were still skeletonized but by fewer insects) I couldn't help but to get happy because every single beetle that was trapped was one less beetle that could go on to mate and make more beetles to live to attack another day. I really felt like I was making a dent in the Japanese population and will soon be buying another trap since mine is nearly filled up. I suspect the trap held at least 5000-10,000 beetles and that is a LOT of beetles! I was able to empty my trap and reuse it but the sticky bug juice that comes with dead Japanese beetles was not so pleasant. There really is no way to avoid that mess when emptying the trap. I think a new trap will be in store soon so I don't have to empty the trap again. And boy, those those beetles smell terrible.

Right next to one of the decimated Knockout roses there is a cluster of liatris growing. Not one single Japanese beetle bothered with the liatris but the bees sure seemed to like it.

And finally, one new pest control type who came to us one hot evening in May. He is a stray though he most likely belonged to one of my neighbors; who don't seem to do well with pets at all. In the two years they have lived next door two of their dogs have passed and they have gone through at least a dozen dogs and cats! But that is another story. This cat will be taken care of and will not procreate more unwanted animals in the world. 

This boy is also Mr. Personality himself and is sweet sweet sweet! We adore him. Orkin kitty is having to adjust but adjust she will as this fella will not be swayed from his new, safe, secure home in Tiger Gardens. We have already had him neutered, treated for ticks, and vaccinated. He gets along so very well with the dogs but we are working on getting the big dogs to get along well with him. For some reason Smokey has no claws though. We do hope they grow back but he doesn't seem to have trouble getting around as need be. He can jump and climb with the best of them. And he surely sometimes needs to do so when the hose accidentally sprays him. He is a good hunter and is helping Orkin keep down the rodents and lizards....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The Genista Broom Moth Caterpillar Eating Baptisia

 To those of you viewing this post under a 'Networked blog' url it is an illegal and pirated post. The correct url should say tinaramsey in the url. Please report the pirated version here. Thanks.

Pests in the garden can be a problem and they are a very big problem two days before a big garden tour. A very good preventative for pests, or at least a quick fix is to walk your gardens and make sure you are watching for signs of pests. In my case I honestly missed the signs of an infestation of the genista broom moth larve on my baptisia. Let me explain. I had noticed a few weeks ago that this particular baptisia was being eaten. I checked for pests but did not see any and did not particularly worry since this baptisia was the exact same one that was bothered by the automeris moth larve last summer. Not checking further was the wrong answer. I should've checked under the leaves for the eggs of the genista broom moth caterpillar. Had I done so I may have prevented the decimation to my baptisia. I only show you one of the baptisia but a total of five baptisia were attacked-only two small ones were saved and I am not so sure they too won't wind up with some of these pests.

Before I kill any bugs in my garden I always seek to identify them. I searched high and low on the web for help with this insect and even emailed the picture out for help but I had no luck identifying this larve until I posted a picture on my FB account and Freda of Defining Your Home and Garden posted a link to the identification of this pest. Thanks Freda for the fast identification! A local extension agent here in Tennessee also verified the identification and said I should get rid of these caterpillars soon.



I don't have insecticides here on a normal day to day basis and honestly, even if I did I'm not so sure I would immediately pull them out and spray. My option upon identifying these caterpillars was to handpick them all off from the baptisias. Fortunately I had two teens here who were quickly enlisted to help out with the picking. The caterpillars went in a bucket of plain water to drown. There were too many caterpillars to take care of in this way so as soon as I was able to I went to the Co-Op and purchased some concentrated bacillus thuringeiensis (BT). This was the day before the garden tour. I quickly mixed up the BT in the recommended dosage in a spray bottle and sprayed away all of my baptisia. I am still checking daily for more caterpillars as more more and more hatch out and grow large enough for me to see and am finding more coming each day. I suspect I'll be systematically checking for these pests for the next few weeks. 


From what our extension agent said and what I have read online these moths are generally found further south and in Texas where broom is more common. Broom does grow here but it is not a normal plant for this region. Apparently the baptisia is a good host plant for the moth and a number of other flying insects to include both butterflies and moths. For some reason the moths like Tiger Gardens more than the butterflies do to lay their eggs. 


And how did the tour go? Well, not one person mentioned the above sad looking baptisia and the tour went wonderfully! I cut out all of the damage and removed the caterpillars by hand and while the baptisia was a shadow of its former self it will recover from the infestation....

in the garden....

P.S. This caterpillar does not appear to be the stinging kind. With the white prickly looking hairs I did not venture to test out my theory but I could not find where it is listed as a stinging caterpillar. It is best not to touch insects or wildlife at all unless you are sure they will not harm you. 



Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

How to Get Rid of Chipmunks And Some Help with Animal Tracks

From In the Garden

How do you get rid of chipmunks? Now who in their right mind would want to get rid of the cute little rodents? Me! I agree with everyone else that chipmunks are the cutest little critters in the garden but in my garden they cause a lot of damage-and I'm not talking about the garden. We have a pole style garage in the backyard that has been under attack by these little critters. They burrow under the garage floor and make tunnels that are then used by not only the chipmunks but also by the voles. And wherever you see one chipmunk you can bet there are probably about 2-5 other chipmunks you don't see. They can really cause damage and when they find a comfortable home with lots of birdseed (yes I feed the birds), cover, natural foods in the form of plants and seedheads and fruits, and a safe warm place to live (under the garage) chipmunks can multiply out of control. I don't like them in my garden. My cat can't even keep up with them and I've had difficulty ridding my garden of them until....I learned how to use the small animal critter cage. 


Has anyone else ever used a live trap? I've had this HavaHart small animal trap for about five years and each year I'd try to trap the chipmunks and all I would ever catch would be birds! Well of course that is not a desirable catch because I like the birds. They don't damage my home and are all around good neighbors, unlike the chipmunks. I couldn't figure out how to catch chipmunks until a good friend from garden club told me she could catch a chipmunk a day simply by placing the cage somewhat in the brush or toward perennials where the opening is somewhat obscured. This keeps the birds from accessing the door and provides cover for the chipmunks to wonder inside the trap. As for as bait I sometimes put sunflowers, peanut butter, or apple pieces in the trap but most of the time this is not even necessary. We can easily catch a chipmunk a day here. As soon as we get rid of some chipmunks more move in. It is a never ending battle.


Once a chipmunk was trapped we were faced with what to do with it to rid our garden of it. Humanely disposing of them was an option we really did not want but was an option. Enter a good friend who kindly volunteered us the use of her 20 acres to release the chipmunks. Sometimes we drop them off on her property sometimes out in a public park but always a long way from our home. We hope this little chipmunk is very happy in its new home by a lovely stream down the road about six miles. And, we hope it does not have radar like some animals and finds it way back to our yard because it will be caught and moved again.


A late addition to this post is this picture of tracks I found in my vegetable garden. I can't figure out what kind of animal it was-or even if it animal tracks. I only found two sets like this in the vegetable garden (where the dogs cannot go). Can anyone help me out with identifying these tracks?

From In the Garden

Happy Valentine's Day to Everyone...
in the garden...

Voles Eat Japanese Maple

No one can say the voles around here don't have good taste when they decide to totally chew the roots off from one of my Japanese maples now can they? Grrrrrrr! I was wandering around a front garden when I came upon this maple laying on the ground. I immediately thought perhaps the wind knocked it over. No such luck. Upon investigating I discovered the roots had been chewed off. It had to have happened really quickly because this tree is in bud and still looked alive. Geez, what do you do when this happens? Drive on, gardening is like this sometimes.

In order to hopefully prevent anymore plants from suffering the same fate as the Japanese maple I went around to all the small trees and shrubs in the garden, moved all mulch away from the trunks, and stomped the ground down firmly. I found a few more shrubs with damage from voles as well as the Japanese maple. A prized fothergilla will most likely meet the same fate as the above Japanese maple but after packing dirt around it I am trying to be optimistic.

The population of voles in a garden is mind boggling and even with two cats outside, plenty of rodent eating birds and maybe a few snakes and rat poison, nothing seems to make a dent in the population here. The voles have to eat and they evidently spend the winter nibbling on roots all throughout the garden. This has been a bad year for them. Normally I don't lose any trees or shrubs and have only suffered major damage to perennials in the past. No such luck this year. But oh well, time to move on and forget all about it. Perhaps the voles didn't like the tree in its spot? Who knows. I guess they were very hungry. All I can do when I walk around the garden now is thank my lucky stars the voles didn't eat the very large trees because to see one of them fall might be a very bad thing....

in the garden....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

SHRIEK! Invasion of the Cave/Camel Crickets

From In the Garden

Shriek! Scream! Help! Can you hear me now? Perhaps not but if you had been any where near my little town in Tennessee you may have heard my shrieks when I encountered some cave crickets in my outside storage shed. It wasn't so much the cave crickets themselves, but the fact that when I ventured to move this axe they were resting on they jumped-at me and everywhere else! Panic! I am not normally a squeamish type of person-hey I've been to Iraq where the guys caught scorpions and centipedes and let them fight it out in an 'arena' and it never bothered me. I squish grubs bare handed and have run into many insects in the garden that usually have no effect on me but these prehistoric things creeped me out.

Mr. Fix-it helped me to identify these crickets. At first he thought they may have been mole crickets; which would have been just as bad. Upon further research we have identified them as cave/camel crickets. Cave/camel crickets like dark and damp areas. They do not chirp and can barely see-figures since they live in caves. My outdoor building is similar to a cave since it is dark and damp due to all the recent rains. In fact the shed was so dark I did not know what kind of insects these really were until my flash caught their mugs. The cave crickets must find the area to their liking because there were quite a few of them. Each time I would open the shed door I would hear a rustling and some movement-creepy. I just chocked it up to the field mice because we also have them in the shed. Nope, not on this day. It was the crickets and my oh my do they ever scuttle and make some intimidating noises! And don't disturb them-if you do be prepared to shriek and run because it is not a pleasant sight to have these ugly things jumping at you....

in the garden....I'm still shaking from my encounter! Grasshoppers have nothing on these fellas! But hubby says they would make good fishing bait. Perhaps he'll go take them away?? Nah, he's busy in his gargage-no crickets there:)

Coon Corn

Posted by Dawn

First, let me say right off....when my corn gets knee high to a 2 year old, I don't weed the rows. My feeling is that more damage comes from trying to turn your body, bend your body and walk your body between the rows than to let all the weeds grow. Having said that, I only wish some of the weeds would conceal this delicious veggie from all the hungry critters that roam the night.
I really had been expecting this because in all the years I've grown a garden we've had corn once. Once! The squirrels or skunks or raccoons would somehow know just when I plan on picking the corn and beat me to the buffet. I thought this year would be different though. I had taken time on animal proofing my garden and I have a fresh composter! Which to me would seem more tempting than having to really work for your dinner. No such luck. I'd studied everyday out the window, is it today they get my corn? Once, when I saw a bent stalk I ran out only to find a bent stalk. I thought free and clear.

Can you see the footprint in my onions? Yes, they even harassed my onions, onions!

Stalks as big as my thumb sawed off like a twig, every one of them and all but one ear of corn was eaten all the way around the cob!! Terrible way to walk to your garden and look up only after you've opened the gate. What the!?!

We read some solutions on the Internet to solving a raccoon problem. Things like human hair....I have plenty from my "Elvis" like son, soap-we have reviewed them all except one. A motion detector attached to a sprinkler. Well, just in case my coons believe they can have a shave and a bath while feasting we will be doing the radio thingy too!

And the corn stands alone, and the corn stands alone, hi, ho, the dairy oh. The corn stands alone. IN THE GARDEN

Borer-Ectomy: Remove Those Pesky Squash Vine Borers

Growing squash is both a rewarding and frustrating feat in the garden. Most squash are very prolific and will reward the gardener with a bountiful harvest; however, squash are prone to squash vine borers. You can tell your squash is infected when all of sudden the whole plant is wilted and it is not due to lack of water. This is your signal to take action and to conduct a borer-ectomy. (Thanks to Catherine for coming up with the name:~)

Here are instructions to help save the plant's life, or at the very least extend its life so you can harvest more squash. These instructions will work with all types of squash plants. Locate the base of the stem and look for a moist sawdust like pile. This is your clue there are borers present. I then get a sharp paring knife and cut the stem cleanly in both directions from where I found the hole. I gently split the stem and find the borers. If you are lucky they are still small and there are not too many of them. Pierce them with the knife and dispose of them. Be sure you have them all or you are wasting your time. I next squeeze the wound together and tape it up with any kind of tape. I used clear wrapping tape in the above procedure. It did not remain on the plant for long, but that is okay so long as the plant is stable. I then apply Sevin dust to the area and hope for the best. It is a wait and see approach at this point. Out of the two borer-ectomies I performed on my two yellow crookneck squash plants, only one made it. Is a 50% rate good for doctors in the garden? I hope so. At any rate this plant lived for another month and bore (no pun intended) many more squash. As of this posting it has finally met its demise and I am sad to see it go. I am not sure what caused the death as there were no new signs of borer activity. Maybe it was just all the stress of the borer-ectomy. Sigh.

in the garden....