Frequently Asked Questions

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Garden

• I have a lot of earwigs and spiders in my garden and flower beds. How can I kill them off without making my bed unsafe to plant vegetables in the future?
• I have just discovered an ant colony in my outdoor herb pot. I noticed soil build up around a couple of the herbs, thyme and rosemary and also soil build up around the drain holes. This pot is 20 inches across and 15 inches deep. How can I get rid of the ants without damaging the herbs or poisoning my family? Thank you.
• I live in Dayton,Id. I seem to have a lot of trouble with blossom end rot on my tomatoes. What could I be doing wrong? To much water not enough or wrong fertilizer? Need suggestions.
• I planted 2 plum trees several years ago. The 3rd year I had a huge crop. The next 2 years the leaves had what I think is peach leaf curl or at least that's how it made the leaves look. I sprayed both years with no improvement. This year I've also sprayed but after blossoming, the leafing is very sickly, the leaves done even really form, they just make tiny clusters of pale spikes that look like tiny curled leaves. Is there anything I can so short of digging them out? Can they be saved or I am better off just starting from scratch? How to I make sure what is there doesn't contaminate the new trees? Thanks.

Home

• Box Elder bugs have emerged already and are breeding. They get into the house and crawl all over the west facing exterior house wallsand are all over the vegetable garden beds. How do I erradicate them?
• I want to get rid of spiders inside my house. What do you recommend I spray inside and outside with?

Orchards

• I have a bartlett pear tree. A Limb is almost black, but growth was still coming out of the ends, so i didn't prune it off the tree all the way in the spring. Now other parts of the tree are turning black, some of the leaves are curling and turning black as well as some of the fruit. Can I save the tree, or do I need to pull it out. Also will this spread to my other two nearby peach and apple tree.
• I have a peach tree that I want to save - it's almost completely dead because of borers. There are some healthy branches on it still, and I'm wondering about the possibility of grafting some of this stock onto another peach tree I have. Where can I find out how to do this?
• Our 4 year old peach tree is blossoming and we noticed a "web" full of caterpillars in one of the branch forks. Several of the 1/2 to 3/4 inch larvae were on other branches as well. EEWWW! What do I do?
• We are trying to revive some neglected apple trees that were pretty dried out. We forked up some of the dead grass and sprinkled for a few hours. But the leaves are curled along their axis like a hark cor taco instead of being their normal flat like a tostada selves. Is this a result of too much water, not enough, insects or what?
• We have scrub oak in our back yard. Almost overnight we have thousands of little green worms that have made webs over the leaves of the trees and are eating every green leaf in sight! Help! What do we do???

Yard

• I have tall thin Junipers in my backyard. They resemble a Hollywood Juniper but I am not sure of their species. They are 25 years old and have begun to look like they are dying, the needles are turning brown and falling off. Is there anything I can do to save them?
• I have a 25-foot tall scrub oak that appears to be dying. If it is anthracnose that is killing it, can it be saved? There are some commercial, injectable products that claim success. Is it possible?
• I have a scarlett red maple. It's about 8 years old and last year the leaves didn't get very big. This year, it hasn't even began to bloom yet although, It has tiny buds. I noticed that the bark in some places peels off very easily. Under the bark, it looks like there may be some black flecks (maybe bug feces). I only noticed one little red colored bug under where I peeled the bark. I don't see any other bugs anywhere, even at the base. Do you think it could have a disease or bugs? I am going to put some fertilizer steaks around it and pour some Bayer Advanced tree and shrub insect control around the base of the tree. Is it too late to spary it?
• I have several Dwarf Blue Arctic Willows in my yard. This year they were full of some kind of wasp or bee. I waited until winter and the leaves dropped off to see if there was a hive or nest and there does not seem to be one. In looking for the nest I noticed some small black bugs on the wood. What should I do, if anything and are the two pests related in any way?
• I've noticed lots of caterpillars eating the leaves of my Birch trees--they look like inchworms. I've also seen them in neighbor's trees. Is there an infestation, and what can I do about it?
• My front yard has large patches of dead grass. Originally I thought it might be a result of grubs, but dug down and didn't see any larvae or grub worms. The condition is worsening and now I've noticed pencil-eraser size holes throughout the dry areas. Do you know what this is and how to prevent or stop it?
• Our grass is dying and we suspect a worm/grub problem since we have seen some yellowish worms come up when we have raked the thatch layer. When is the best time to treat to kill the worms? What is best to kill them if we don't know exactly what species they are? How long after treatment can we prepare and plant new grass seed?
• What are the best cures for fungus type lawn diseases. We've tried infrequent deeper watering, which makes it worse, higher mowing in the hotter months, airation shoes, and everthing else suggested. We know we have clay under the topsoil.