Garden Chat

By Jean Lundquist

This summer has been a challenging one. Between weeks of drought followed by torrential rains, to pests.

I have been fortunate, at least on the pest front, with one small exception. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Japanese beetles have been a bane for many of my gardening friends, especially those who won’t use chemicals on their food. These beetles will eat just about any plant put before it.

They are kind of pretty, if you like iridescent green bugs with coppery wings. But they decimate plants, chewing a lacy skeleton behind on the leaves where they have been active. They will eat just about anything, though they are particularly partial to roses. They also like geraniums, where they feast on the flowers. Because of chemicals in geranium flowers, they get dizzy and fall to the ground, where you can sweep them up.

Other controls include hand-picking them from the plants, spraying with Neem oil, or using one of the many recipes for Japanese beetle control found on the Internet. A fair warning, however, that almost all of these ideas, except for hand-picking, carry some environmental threat. Even Neem oil, which is considered a natural control, can be toxic to fish if it gets into the water.

If you do choose to use a chemical, read the label to be sure it doesn’t harm bees and other pollinators.

At any rate, be sure to test what you use on a small part of a plant before widespread use.

I wasn’t bothered by Japanese beetles this summer, but from how widespread they are, I’m already preparing for next year.

The one pest that did bother me this year was a black and yellow garden spider.

I am of the firm belief that any spider in the house is a bad spider, and should be disposed of. Don’t judge me, it’s just how I feel about it.

By the same token, any spider outside is exactly where it belongs, and should be allowed to stay and eat all the bugs it can catch. These spiders are good spiders, as opposed to bad spiders in the house.

Black and yellow garden spiders are not rare, but also not commonly seen until fall. They are huge. The females are over an inch long, with the males being considerably smaller.

Almost all of the spiders we see are females. They show up in the fall when they are big enough to fight off predators, according to scientists who study such things.

I have seen them before in the garden, often spinning a web between tomato plants. Any spider in the garden is not just a good spider, it’s an excellent spider.

But our guest this year decided to set up shop in the doorway to the shed, where I keep my gardening “stuff.”

I poked at it a few times when I really needed to go in the shed, and didn’t want my head covered in cobwebs. It ran (they really move fast) and I poked a pathway into the shed.

There was that one time, however, I was wandering around in thought, and went into the shed without moving the spider out of the way. Did you hear me as I brushed her, ever so gently, out of my hair?

I know she didn’t bite me, and even if she had, I would have survived. But there is nothing to compare to the unique experience of having an inch-long spider running around in your hair, close to your face.

My thoughts were racing, and I imagined it dropping down the collar of my shirt. I know I did a dance trying to rid myself of that spider.

The thing is, they weave a lacy zig zag pattern down the middle of their web, thought to keep birds from flying through it. I guess I’m not as observant as a bird.

But fear not – she found her way back to the doorway, and set up shop again.

Jean Lundquist is a Master Gardener who lives near Good Thunder. gardenchatkato@gmail.com