Pest Patrol

The Complex Relationship of Aphids, Ants, and Ladybugs

When considering pests, we need to take a broader perspective. In this case, I noticed aphids on my catnip plant, then spotted the aphids and ants. What’s going on when aphids, ants, and ladybugs are on the same plant? What Do Aphids Do? Aphids are sap sucking insects that are very common on vegetables and ...

Natural Ways to Eliminate Ants in Your Garden

While cleaning out the front garden this week, I ran into a biting obstacle… ants. It was an interesting yoga move trying to balance above the busy nest reaching the weeds while avoiding the ants. And while I prefer to leave ants where they are, these have to go. Now I need to decide on ...

Listening to the hum of the carpenter bees

We were standing near my sister’s garage the other evening. There were at least 8 carpenter bees (although I didn’t know at first that’s what they were). They were seemingly attempting to burrow into the eaves of her garage where some of the paint wore off over the years. Earlier that day while sitting on ...