Jan 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
You spend a lot of time on your lawn and plants in the warm months. You enjoy their beauty, their usefulness, and even their taste if you have vegetables in your garden. So you want to make sure that your plants stay healthy in the cold temperatures of winter. Rapidly changing temperatures, extreme temperatures, frost, and snow can damage your plants.
Here are some helpful tips to protect your plants from the cold:
- Cover your plants with clear plastic. A plastic covering protects plants from snow and frost. Make sure that the plastic is a bit higher than the plant so the plastic doesn’t freeze to the plant. Using clear allows you to see through the plastic and monitor your plants.
- Cover plants with blankets. An alternative to using clear plastic is using old blankets or sheets to cover your plants. However, when using this method it is important to keep blankets dry.
- Use hot caps on vegetables. Hot caps are recommended to protect tender vegetables from frost. These can be purchased or you can make your own. Visit http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Garden-Hot-Caps-from-Used-Milk-Jugs
- Move plants to shelter. If possible, move plants to a place that offers shelter and warmth from the elements. This can be inside or even under a covered structure.
- Use mulch. Mulch acts as an insulator for plants during temperature swings.
For more information on lawn care, please visit our site at https://www.callnorthwest.com/lawn-care/
Jul 19, 2012 | Pest Control
Fruit flies are a nuisance in homes! That’s the bottom line! They seem to come out of nowhere and are extremely hard to get rid of. But the truth is, they don’t come out of nowhere…they come from up to miles away when they have smelled the scent of ripening fruit and vegetables. Because they are so small they are able to fit through even the tiniest of openings to get inside your home and to the fermenting fruit.
“Well that’s easy enough”, you say, “just throw away the fruit once you’ve seen fruit flies”…it’s not that easy. Fruit flies are fast reproducers! Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs at a time and their entire life cycle only takes 8-10 days. This makes them difficult to control once they have infested your home. It’s not just the fruit they are after, they can also lay their eggs in sink drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles and cans, garbage bags, and even damp mops and sponges.
Getting rid of fruit flies is difficult but it’s not impossible. By following some simple steps you can rid your home of fruit flies and ensure that they don’t return.
How to get rid of fruit flies:
- The first step is to remove the sources of attraction like fruits and vegetables.
- Remove breeding sources by throwing away old sponges and mops, and cleaning out dish drains.
- Store fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator rather than on the counter tops.
- Wipe down sides and bottom of trash cans for any debris that may have spilled over.
- For smaller infestations you can choose to try a DIY approach to eliminating fruit flies. Using a glass of some sort (jar or wine bottle) put a slice of banana or apple cider vinegar at the bottom of the glass and stick a paper funnel out of the top of the glass. The flies will enter the glass in search of the food source but will be unable to get out. After a few hours, seal the glass and throw away…the fruit flies should be gone.
- When DIY tricks don’t work…call the experts at Northwest Exterminating. A professional pest control company will be able to target the living fruit flies as well as the eggs. They will help you find the source of your problem and help you to control the issue.
