April 2022

Put away the harsh chemicals and work in concert with nature to manage pests in the garden. Create an inviting habitat for nature’s pest controllers to enlist their help with your gardening efforts. Lady beetles, praying mantis and other beneficial insects feed on damaging pests like aphids. Just tolerate a bit of damage and wait for the good guys to move in and clean up the problem. Grow a few plants to attract these and other beneficial insects to your landscape. Dill and its relatives attract parasitic wasps, coreopsis brings in the aphid-eating lacewings, and milkweed attracts lady beetles as well as monarch and other butterflies. Add some hyssop to attract the pirate bugs that eat thrips, spider mites and leafhoppers. Then plant members of the aster family to attract spiders that eat a variety of insects. Invite songbirds into your gardens. They add motion and color to the landscape and help manage garden pests. Most songbirds eat a combination of fruits, berries, seeds, and insects. Their diet varies with the season. During spring and summer, they eat lots of insects and spiders when they are plentiful, easy to catch and an important part of their hatchlings’ diet. A birdbath will help attract them and beneficial insects to the garden. Select one with sloping sides for easy access to the water. Add a few seed producing flowers like Black-Eyed Susan’s, coneflowers, salvia, coreopsis and more. If space allows, include a few berry producing shrubs like dogwoods and evergreens for shelter. Leave some leaf litter under trees and shrubs and in the garden for toads that dine on slugs and other insects. Include a shallow pond or water feature. Even a shallow saucer filled with chlorine-free water is effective. Place rocks in and around the water for added toad appeal. Purchase or make your own toad abode from a ceramic or clay pot. Place it in a shady location near a garden filled with protein-rich insects. Set it directly on the soil and elevate one side with stones or use a cracked or broken pot that provides an entryway for the toad. If you can’t wait for nature’s help, look for more eco-friendly options. Knock aphids and mites off plants with a strong blast of water. Trap slugs with shallow cans filled with beer. Trap and kill aphids in yellow bowls filled with soapy water.

If you get your drinking water from the Cities of Bull Shoals, Flippin, Summit or Yellville, you have dedicated water professionals to thank. This year National Drinking Water Week is May 1 through May 7. For more than 40 years the American Water Works Association and its members have celebrated Drinking Water Week – a unique opportunity for both water professionals and the communities they serve to recognize the vital role water plays in our daily lives.