BLULOW (All About Living Green)

Okay, this is more of a request than a post.

Does anyone know of natural ways to get rid of Japanese beetles?

This request is for a friend of mine whose plants are being eaten by the annoying insects. My plants, for some reason have not been affected. Maybe it’s because they don’t like the pepper I sprinkled on the flowers earlier in the year to deter the squirrels. Who knows?

I found one article that offers an environmentally friendly way to get rid of them. It had something to do with killing a few of them early in the season and placing them in a bucket of soapy water.

You’re supposed to leave the bucket in a prominent area so that when the other Japanese beetles catch a whiff of the scent of their dead brethren they’ll fly away thinking that the area is unsafe (no, I didn’t write the article, I’m only paraphrasing what it said). You can read the article here.

Has anyone tried it?

It looks like pepper works. In my last post I ranted a bit about squirrels reeking havoc with my plants so I peppered them (the plants, not the squirrels).

This morning, I was hard at work on my laptop and I happened to look up and I saw my archenemy, the squirrel stalking (in that predatory manor that they have when they see a flower box to demolish), towards my flower box. I almost jumped up to get the broom to shoo it away, but I remembered the pepper.

I watched it as it approached the first flower box. The squirrel looked in the dirt, appeared to sniff around a little, then it walked thorough the flower box along the deck railing until it came to the second flowerbox. The squirrel repeated the same behavior. It sniffed, stood there for a while then turned around and slowly retraced its steps.

I’m not sure what the squirrel was thinking, but it sure seemed to be deep in thought. It slowly walked then stopped. It spied other plants I had on the deck. (Darn!!! I didn’t pepper all of the plants, I missed one or two of the smaller ones). I knew for certain this flower box demolisher was going to destroy the two small pepperless flowerpots.

I started to creep towards the broom closet. I knew I was going to have to shoo it away.

The squirrel stood there moving its little head from side to side with its nose in the air. It seemed to try to detect which pots had pepper and which ones didn’t. I don’t think the squirrel could tell. I guess it’s a good thing that I just about emptied an entire can of pepper in the plants.

It could be my imagination, but I thought I detected a look of defeat on the squirrels face. I mean, those little beady eyes lowered, the body posture seemed a little less defiant, and the flower box destroyer walked away.

Whooo hooo! Score one for mom!!!

I’m so annoyed with those tiny four-legged garden destroyers that I’m about to scream!

They chew up the lawn, they overturn all of my flowers and they constantly toss the dirt out of my flower boxes.  I caught one squirrel mid dirt toss and I sprayed it with the water hose.  The little bugger took off, and I was left with mud all over the deck.

I’ve read that squirrels don’t like pepper, cayenne or bitter substances.  I guess their palate can’t stand the spicy stuff.  I’m not sure if it works, but I pretty much emptied a can of black pepper in two of my flower boxes.  Hopefully I wont go into sneezing fits every time I play with my flowers.

Although squirrels may look cute, they’re really a gardener’s nuisances.  If you’ve had any luck in deterring squirrels from chewing through your garden, please share your remedy.  I’m just about a wits end.

I keep saying that living green isn’t always easy, but it doesn’t have to be this frustrating.

I am not what you would call an outdoors type of person. It’s not that I’m against the outdoors, but there’s something about the spiders, mosquitoes and the unidentifiable bugs that, well…bug me. My little bug problem tends to put a damper on my gardening experiences.

While I enjoy a home-grown fruit or vegetables just as much as the next person, losing argument with the squirrels and deer caused me to abandon my back to Eden notion of growing my own food.

Not one to totally give up, I’ve decided to grow my garden indoors. I’m starting small with basil. Basil is my most favorite herb. I try to put it in just about everything I cook. However, every time I go to the grocery store to buy dried basil, I gasp because each time I go the price gets higher and higher.

Determined to blulow my life, I went to my local home gardening store and spent about a buck and a half on basil seeds. My daughter planted them I a clay pot with organic soil. While my thumb is not the greenest of thumbs, the basil has sprouted above the soil (an indication that I’m doing something right).

Over time, I hope to dry and preserve some of the leaves while using fresh basil as I see fit. If all goes well, I’ll try something a little more challenging like parsley, then maybe tomatoes, then carrots, then potatoes, then watermelon, then….

I guess I got a little carried away. I should wait for my basil to grow first before I take on more than I’m able to handle. Let’s face it, I just recently figured out how to keep my houseplants alive.