Dr. John Stier, environmental turfgrass extension specialist, professor and chair of the Dept. of Horticulture-University of Wisconsin, Madison. Spring time always gets people excited about their lawns. Store shelves are stocked with lawn care products and advertisements are on TV and in the Sunday paper for grasses, mowers, and fertilizers. Our lawns need three things to grow well: … Continued
Melissa Brookshire, DVM, runs North River Enterprises and provides consulting services on pet food and animal health companies while balancing her life as a mom of two active boys. A graduate of the University of MissouriCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Melissa owned and operated a multi-species veterinary hospital with her husband before starting her consulting business. … Continued
California Recognizes Mosquito & Vector Control Awareness week. Mosquitoes thrive in the warm weather that is fast approaching, and it’s important to realize that these little bugs can cause more than just annoying bites. Mosquitoes can transmit diseases like West Nile virus, malaria, yellow fever, heartworm in dogs, and encephalitis. That is why the Mosquito … Continued
A commonly repeated definition of a “weed” is “an unwanted plant.” This broad definition can make the process of identifying – and controlling – weeds a bit daunting. But understanding a few common weeds, and particularly learning about those that may pose health or wellness dangers, is an important first step toward maintaining safe, healthy … Continued
Are you affected by allergy season and spring’s high pollen counts? Well, you aren’t the only one. A USA Today article, “Seasonal allergies emerging,” reported that at least 10 percent of Americans have seasonal allergies to tree, grass, and ragweed pollens. An estimated 60 million people in the U.S. are afflicted with allergy symptoms, such … Continued
Last spring, author Raymond Bial wrote a book, What’s Bugging You?, that teaches children the differences between good and bad bugs and helpful or potentially harmful plants. While reading the book, children learn how to become “pest detectives” around their homes and yards. Ray traveled around the state of New York, visiting elementary schools in … Continued
With Halloween just around the corner, many of us will be looking for spooky decorations for our home. Halloween favorites include the traditional spiders and cobwebs, rats, bats and more, but while these plastic decorations welcome trick-or-treaters and show holiday spirit, the real pests aren’t so welcoming. Just as trick-or-treaters will flock to your door … Continued
Today is the last day of National Inspect and Protect Week, so it’s time to treat for any problems you’ve found and to be ready for any future problems. In order for the INSPECT acronym to most effectively help you solve your pest problems, all of the steps must work together. For example, if you … Continued
Today is Thursday, and that means it is time to clean your home — not the deep cleaning you instantly dread, but putting away and throwing away clutter. Pests need three things to survive: food, water, and a place to live. If you can control access to food around the home and eliminate standing water, … Continued
In the investigate step, we discussed the many ways and reasons that pests could enter your home or inhabit your lawn and garden, and now, after studying and preparing, it is time to eliminate the problems you may have identified. Pests need three things to survive: food, water, and a place to live. While you … Continued