Gardening: Questions & Answers

Margaret Lehmann of Giddings asked this question after reading my column about deer last Friday: “I just read your article on keeping deer out of your garden; I don’t have a deer problem, however the grasshoppers are about ready to carry us away. What can we do to get rid of them? They are eating our peaches, beans, okra and just about everything!”

I feel your pain, Margaret. I use a product called Nolo Bait to control grasshoppers. Lee County Ace Hardware sometimes has it. It’s a bacteria-based organic product that kills young grasshoppers and crickets and makes the bigger ones sick. If you have a heavy infestation, you may need to apply every couple of weeks for a month or two. The product doesn’t affect humans, pets, livestock or other insects.

You can try using the garlic pepper tea recipe that was in last week’s column. It repels a lot of pests, including grasshoppers. You can also spray with any of the spinosad products. I use a product called Capt. Jack’s Dead Bug Brew. However, only spray spinosad late in the evening since this biological-based pesticide can also harm pollinators. Keeping the grass mowed short around the garden also helps keep their numbers down.

The Sevin brand of toxic chemical pesticides are known for controlling grasshoppers. I do not use Sevin products because they are extremely harmful to bees and other beneficial insects. I recommend that you stay away from Sevin as well. The bees are not only your friend, but a friend to your neighbors who garden, too.

I also received a few other responses to the column about my deer problems. Former Fayette County Attorney John Wied offered this advice: “I am told that sprinkling blood meal around the garden will repel deer.” Blood meal is also a high nitrogen fertilizer, so it could help in more than one way.

Anita Lyons of Muldoon offered another possible solution: “Loved your article about deer in the okra. Here is our solution. My boyfriend (husband), Patrick, put clear monofilament fishing line about 3 1/2 to 4 feet off the ground around our garden. We don’t have a fence at all. The deer can’t see the line and when they hit it, they run off. So far, no deer in the garden. Now we have to be careful too, because guess what? We can’t see it either.”

Thank you both for the ideas, I’m going to give them a try.

Do you have any questions or comments about gardening? Send them to andy@fayettecountyrecord.com.