by knappvalley | May 31, 2011 | My Favorite Garden Shops |
It seems like the rain gage just keeps filling up. Garden plants love it, but pests like earwigs, pillbugs and slugs, do, too. Published May 27, 2011 Rebecca Finneran, Michigan State University Extension During cool, wet weather, slugs, pillbugs and earwigs gain momentum in the ideal conditions that exist not only in the organic debris around your garden plants, but lots of other places as well. Perusing through the garden I have found slugs on plants where I was least expecting them, such as Allium. An onion relative, Allium was not a plant I would think would be preferred food for this pest. Other plants like Hosta, Pulmonaria and soft-tissue annuals are prime targets for hungry slugs. Earwigs and pillbugs are serious plant eaters, too. Years ago, I remember telling people that earwigs posed no threat to the garden and were merely enjoying a good romp in the wood chips. Tell that to my coleus and marigolds, would ya! According to MSU entomologist David Smitley, European earwigs and pillbugs can be a big nuisance around homes, hiding out in moist shrub beds or leaf litter. Pillbugs also will flourish in flower beds where there is surface debris or mulch. Since earwigs feed mostly when gardeners are sleeping, they are not easily observed, Smitley noted. A common symptom is the tattered foliage of soft annuals such as sweet potato vine, marigold and coleus. Even containerized flowers and hanging baskets can be a target. Earwigs stealthily slither under the pots during the day then munch their salad bar all night. I have curtailed their feeding on container plants simply by placing... by knappvalley | Jun 21, 2010 | My Favorite Garden Shops
Get ideas, inspiration and education! Get “Stuck on Gardening” at the 2010 Michigan State University Extension Public Garden Tour, Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27. Enjoy a lovely day or two with your friends and family viewing 8 gardens presented by Kent County Master Gardeners and “My Favorite Garden Shops.” Each stunning garden offers something unique, from formal to rustic settings, herbs to native plants, masses of colorful annuals to specimens. Knapp Valley Gardens is pleased to partner with Dick and Maggie Bethel, at 6375 Cannon Highland Drive, NE in Belmont, and “show off” their impressive garden. The Bethel’s large woodland garden has been a work in progress for nearly fifteen years, but Maggie, former Director of MSU Extension, has been “stuck on gardening” since childhood. “It’s in my bones,” says Maggie, “I was a farm kid, and I always admired my mother’s and grandmother’s garden, especially my grandmother’s flower garden. Now, whenever I’m in the garden, it makes me feel closer to them, it’s so peaceful. Then just last year, I took the Master Gardener’s Class.” When you visit the Bethel’s, you will be treated to bright yellow sundrops, bold pink impatiens, soft astilbes, a variety of colorful lilies and several water features Their collection of hostas is impressive, there are even several selections named for Dick and Maggie. “I describe my garden as woodland shade with pockets of sun,” explains Maggie. “I try to coax color out of shade. I have no plan, I am constantly rearranging plants. This is definitely not a ‘plant by numbers’ garden.” Maggie’s favorites? “Lilies—but I have to fight with the...
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