Mushy Ground

I am starting to see more of the lawn as the snow slowly recedes; I am excited. We are far from a final frost, but this is just a beginning step as spring slowly creeps in. I really just can't wait. Today, even as the sky remained overcast, the temperature broke 32 degrees fahrenheit and I found myself in the garage...cleaning and preparing.

Eventhough, I did a fall cleanup there was plenty to do, and of course less spiders to worry about. I also thought that it was a great time to clean off any old webs and spider sacks before the weather warmed up and I had scene from a bad horror film. Yes, bugs are a recurring theme with me and I want to tackle them without always using a pesticide. For spiders, it's important to keep areas clean and wipe away spider sacks.

I still don't know what to do about the ants that are a real nuisance in the spring, summer and fall. Unfortunately, I have raised planting beds up against the house; that is a point of entry for some insects and it also creates a good habitat for many to live in. Again, because I want to use as few pesticides as possible, it's important to consider the changes I need to make in order to have a less hospitable habitat for them. From roly-polies (pill bugs), yellow jackets, ants and centipedes...all of these animals play an important role in the environment, but they can also make us miserable at the same time.

It also means that I have to step up and make sure that I am keeping the garage and outside of the house clean; seal cracks and other holes that bugs may set up house in; educate myself on the insects in my area and what attracts them. For instance, a while back, my father had a leaking pipe, the following year there was an exponential increase in household centipedes. Yuck! They are not insects, but relatives of shrimp! They needed the water to survive and thrive. Leaking pipe = more centipedes. The leak was fixed and the centipede number dwindled. So,that is my pre-spring cleaning plan. Find the "leaking pipes" that make my home or surroundings so hospitable to insects and fix them. In that way, I will use less pesticides and potentially harmful chemicals while enjoying my time outside in the yard or inside my home.