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Mole crickets are a problem that is hard to completely to eradicate. Every time you think you got every last one of them, another one pops up. Pesticides are a good control method to use, especially if you have a mole cricket epidemic. Pesticides do have the drawback of being expensive and you have to regularly put them out. Some pests also develop a resistance to the pesticide. That is a good reason to try another approach. Keep an open mind and think about unleashing biological warfare on those grass gorging bugs. While biological controls will not eradicate mole crickets, it will likely keep their population in check beneath problematic levels. This means you won't notice they are there since your grass is still alive!  Mole Cricket Say hello to the Larra wasp. The adults of these bugs lay one of their eggs on a mole cricket and fly away. They can lay about 100 eggs in their life. Said egg later hatches into a baby wasp that is hungry. Yes, that baby wasp is going to go to town on a mole cricket buffet. The adult wasp tend to only eat plant nectar and do not sting humans unless you actively grab them... and who is grabbing wasps bare handed anyway?
Larra wasps will kill around 1/4th of the mole cricket population for each wasp generation. That is about 4 months, meaning every four months, your mole cricket population is dropping by a fourth! While it may never get down to zero, that is a pretty good control method. If you want to attract Larra wasps, plant some white pentas, aka white Pentas lanceolata in the science community. They are a pretty flower and your mole crickets will be put on notice. Give those flowers and that wasp a shot. Let us know how it works for you in the comments. If you need some pentas planted and you live in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, or somewhere in Louisiana between, contact us today.
Come out and cheer for Ducky Green at the Knock Knock Duck Derby on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at the Knock Knock Children's Museum.
The Duck Derby will take place at 1900 Dalrymple Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.  Ducky Green practicing for the derby The weather forecasts are predicting a dry June for both Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and throughout south Louisiana. Look out for dustier cars, panting animals, and stressed plants. Read on for some steps to take with the dry weather just around the corner. Don’t stress out! We are not just taking about you. Don’t stress out your plants any more than they already will be. Keep your grass cut about a quarter inch higher than normal. Avoid selective herbicides if possible. Keep excessive shrub pruning to a minimum on susceptible plants. Give them a some water if they start to look droopy. Add a good layer of mulch to your landscape beds. Keep it between two and three inches. A proper mulch layer will help to maintain a better moisture level in the soil near the roots of your plants. Soil with more moisture in a dry period means better looking plants. Leave an inch or so gap near tree trunks and the base of shrubs. Building up mulch near the base of these can lead to some long term problems.  Rain Barrel Install a rain barrel to collect rain water from your roof. Less rain in June does not mean no rain. The roof of your home will channel the rain water toward your gutters and down into your rain barrel. Use the stored water to hydrate the plants and save yourself some money on your monthly water bill.
Plant flowers that are drought tolerant. Some flower varieties need constant attention and a lot of water. Skip these unless you have a lot of spare time. Peruse the annual selection at your local garden center for flowers that can take both the heat and dry times. Install an irrigation system with an automatic timer. An irrigation system, or lawn sprinkler, is your insurance against drought. The automatic timer will keep your plants watered without you needing to worry about it. These systems last a long time and usually take a small amount of maintenance once a year. Good luck with the dry heat this summer. |
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