I have black cherry aphids! I think the freeloaders have been living off our cherry tree for a few years, but I never bothered to look at them close enough to see that they are, indeed, insects and not just some weird fungi. The cherry tree is the last of the original trees standing in our backyard, and even though it's all artsy looking from numerous bad prunings, I love that tree. I loved the other two trees that rotted and threatened to kill me so much that I planted new versions of the same types of trees, too, so I may need to seek counseling where my tree relationships are concerned.
My yard has really pretty stuff in it that ends up not looking so great by the end of the year. The hedges have powdery mildew; I tried hosing them down with milk and water, and I swear to this day the hedges smell like someone hosed them with milk. I was told to use light horticultural oil during the dormant season too, but the idea of showering the land we walk on with oil didn't go over too well, and I'm just not ready to use the Round-Up on it all yet. :)
This year, I'm planning on picking up any diseased leaves as soon as they fall, because that's supposed to help. I give myself bad odds following through on that, because as soon as the really hot weather arrives I usually shrivel up in a corner somewhere and cry until October.
So...that was the big news of my day, now I return to trying to beat a deadline, which is probably going to take me all weekend. Writing things about stuff sucks when it has to be good and needs to be done fast. This here doesn't count, this is for fun, even if it was about aphids.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Just when you thought it was safe to touch foliage....
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3 comments:
I recommend the application of much chemistry. We had the 'Rid-a-Pest' man here yesterday; for a few bucks he'll kill pretty much anything that moves, and he's got chemicals that target just about ever thang. Down here in the South, we get the bugs, you know. You don't spray every three to four months, the danged old termites will eat your house out from around you. Surely there is some high-powered cancer-causing mutagen that could be applied to your misshapen tree?
I am needing more speaking now, please. Thank you!
We have Southern bugs here, I'm not kidding, a brown recluse spider bit my mom once, and no one knows how the spider got this far north. Later on, after termites did indeed eat a portion of the second floor of my house, I discovered that the spiders were coming to eat the termites, and since the chemical force field went back up round the house (once parts of the house cave in, we get professionals), the spiders seem to have moved on. I hope so, at least, because my cats and dog really didn't like the idea of wearing boots outdoors.
My mom does have a container of some liquid that claims to be deadly to all kinds of insects, but I think the ants and aphids and mosquitoes have grown addicted to whatever chemicals she sprays them with, because they keep coming back for more.
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