If one of your favorite activities is working in your garden, then you’ve almost certainly been frustrated by our Florida pests. While there are some bugs that can be quite detrimental to the health of your plants, you’ll want to keep some of them around. But do you know which is which? Here are a few tips to help your garden grow!
Don’t let these bugs bug you
- Bumblebees – It’s no secret that every garden needs help if it is to grow and flourish. Bumblebees can be your garden’s best friend by fertilizing your plants and keeping them healthy. Bumblebees are not to be confused with the smaller honeybee, which are also essential to health of crops nationwide. The honeybee is a topic for a future post, however.
- Ladybugs – These familiar little creatures may be one of the first bugs we learn about as children. Aside from being downright cute, they are also important to your garden by acting as its personal bodyguard, preying on aphids and driving out mealybugs and garden mites.
- Dragonflies – With its large size and buzzing sound, the dragonfly can be startling if it comes up on you by surprise, but it’s actually one of your garden’s most welcome visitors. By hunting mosquitoes and aphids, they’ll help to make your time tending to your plants more enjoyable.
- Spiders – While not many folks appreciate seeing a spider creepy-crawling about, the garden spiders are a different matter altogether. You’ll probably find a variety of these guys hanging around, and they’re the best garden pest predators of the lot, killing more than the others combined! You can encourage them to make your garden their happy hunting ground by spreading mulch.
Unwelcome visitors to evict
- Aphids – Your beautiful plants are very attractive to aphids, who will feast on your hard work leaving a trail of damage in their wake. These very small pear shaped bugs like to belly up to the bar and go on a plant sap bender, damaging or even destroying your plant’s leaves. While washing your plants at regular intervals can help, the best natural control you can get is your friend, the ladybug!
- Whiteflies – These small, winged insects which typically feed on the underside of leaves with their needle-like mouthparts. Whiteflies can seriously injure host plants by sucking juices from them causing wilting, yellowing, stunting, leaf drop, or even death. If you identify their distinctive white spirals or a white, waxy substance on the underside of leaves? A telltale sooty black mold on your patio furniture or pool deck? These can all be signs of the spiraling whitefly.
- Cutworms – Although they’re technically caterpillars, cutworms are definitely something you do not want to find hanging around in your garden. These destructive pests chew through the bottom of plant stems, and even devour small plants, mostly going after transplanted plants in the early summer.
Help for your lawn, garden and ornamentals
Our exclusive service plan consists of seasonally specific applications of environmentally friendly insecticides and fertilizers. During each visit an Ambassador Pest Management technician will apply quality products designed to slowly release nutrients into the soil to provide a healthy and consistent feeding for your lawn. We also apply high quality insecticides designed to control insects, fungus and weeds and we offer all green products. No more worrying about the kids, pets, yourself or stinky pesticides. Call today for more information about getting a custom lawn and shrub program tailored to your needs. 866-632-0088
Ambassador Pest Management Services 