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Controlling Garden Pests Without Chemicals
Garden pests can be controlled using beneficial insects. A surprising number of damaging pests can be controlled by encouraging or releasing certain insects into the garden. Some insects eat the bad ones without hurting plants and some lay eggs in the body of the plant-damaging pest where after hatching they consume the pest. This may sound like "sci-fi" but it works, and without adding chemicals to your garden. For example, consider the following:
The common Lady bug, actually a beetle, feasts on aphids. Aphids, scale insects, small caterpillars, thrips and mites are on the menu for Lacewings and, we're told, their larvae can be purchased. Releasing
Lacewing larvae into your home garden may be very beneficial. Larvae of gypsy moth, Mexican bean beetle and Colorado potato beetle may be food for
Spined soldier bugs. Although not a friend to man, Wasps are even more deadly to a wide range of pests, including caterpillars. To get more information about beneficial insects visit
www.ag.Ohio-state.edu/~bygl/images.index.html.
However, an interesting wrinkle to this subject is provided by a collection of "experts" from UC Berkeley, the USDA and members of the Saltcedar Biological Control Consortium. They recently released Chinese leaf beetles in California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. It seems the salt cedar, once considered an ornamental plant, is now deemed to be a
noxious weed. This is reminiscent of the effort in Maryland years ago to "outlaw" multiflora rose plants. These authorities say the Chinese beetle is a good control agent because it reproduces quickly and survives the winter. I wonder how long it will be before we have to come up with something to get rid of the Chinese leaf beetle. 
Prevent Osteoporosis By Gardening
An Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas conducted a study to determine which activities have an influence on maintaining bone density. Prof. Lori Turner found that 57% of 3,310 woman 50 and older maintained healthy bone mass with weight training and
yard work. Reasons why yard work is more beneficial than other forms of exercise is that it is more likely to be performed regularly and with low risk of injury, and because it is performed outdoors. The study can be found at
www.pigtrail.uark.edu/news/2000/aproo/weeds.html.
Learn Plant Grafting On The Internet
The Department of Horticulture at Cornell University has made a class available on the internet. The online class is a non credit course that lasts 10 weeks and comprises web-based lectures, video demonstrations and interactive discussions. The class is limited to 50 students and costs $215. For this fee students get access to the web site, a grafting knife, some hibiscus plants and a CD of videos illustrating grafting techniques. More information is available by e-mail to
nraes@cornell.edu.
The Enduring Ginkgo
Ancestors of Ginkgo Biloba are reputed to date back 220 million years. The species hit their peak during the age of the dinosaurs. Fossils show that there have been about 18 species of ginkgo-type plants over time but today only the
Ginkgo Biloba remains. Though once very abundant in North America, Europe, Asia and Siberia, it now appears the last wild plants are found only in the mountains in Southeastern China. However, ginkgo seeds have found their way around the world and seeds have been brought to many botanical gardens.
Believe it or not, the first ginkgo in the U.S. was planted around 1730 in Philadelphia, and still survives.
A Fond Farewell to Foster & Gallagher
The conglomerate of affiliated companies comprising Foster & Gallagher are no more, and we are sorry to see them go. After filing for Chapter 11, the company was sold in parts. At one time the company included Michigan Bulb Co., Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co., Stark Brothers, Henry Fields, Spring Hill Nurseries, and Brecks.
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