The gardening and outdoor living season is well underway! Well, in some states anyway :D
I have been receiving a lot of garden related questions, via comments and e-mail.
Seems like some of our readers think I actually know something about gardening!
So, we thought we might do some weekly garden advice on Fridays.
This week's question comes from Violet and her people. They live in the Eastern U.S.
Dear Wyatt,
Is it ok to ask you some professional advice of managing the grass in our backyard?
We haven't fertilized the backyard since getting Violet 2 years ago and now we can't be outside for too long because the bugs dine on our summertime skin. Forget about eating out there. UGH!
Can you recommend an organic or pet safe fertilizer and bug killer?
Violet's Family
Hmmmm...I had to tax my little terrier brain, because we do not have a big bug problem where we live. We do have an occasional summer mosquito issue, from our pond and have combated the problem by adding little fish that eat mosquito larvae, using an occasional mosquito dunk and also encouraging a bat population. Bats eat about 1,000 insects per hour!
We burn BioCare Natural Candles with lemongrass while dining outside.
But, it would appear that Violet has pesky gnats and a more severe issue.
There are several chemical-free mosquito and gnat repellents on the market.
Most contain active ingredients such as Lemon Grass Oil, Peppermint Oil, Garlic Juice, White Pepper...
We also saw this nifty gadget online, The Dyna Trap.
Maybe some of you have comments about this product?
Hope that helps, Violet and Family!
We encourage comments on additional organic, chemical-free ways to combat summertime insects...including fleas and ticks!
Wyatt
(Comment or e-mail your gardening questions. We will answer on Fridays!)
wyattsriot2010 at gmail dot com
Weekly gardening advice sounds a great idea Wyatt - we look forward to that. Not too much of a bug problem here in Yorkshire UK but my peeps have used the lemongrass candles and used to use a lemongrass and tea tree oil based lotion to put on their skin to keep midges away and that seemed to work well for them. Woofs and licks from Magic xx
ReplyDeleteHi Wyatt,
ReplyDeleteDo you have any experience with skunks? We think we may have one in our yard - a couple of mornings we woke up to a familiar smell. It was faint (so maybe it's in a neighboring yard). Do you know of any natural remedies to encourage the skunk to move somewhere else?
Your pal, Pip
Good advise.
ReplyDeleteI'm with PIP, how do you keep the skunks out of the yard. I got skunked kissed 6 times last year. MOM was not thrilled. Anything we can do?
Blessings,
Goose
Hey Wyatt!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is a wonderful idea for a series of Friday posts! I know lots of us have yard/garden questions. I can't wait to see all of the Q&A's and I'll have a question for you too.
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, COP
BTW: Love those green bunny ears! BOL
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for posts, Wyatt. We hear this summer could be a very bad one for bugs because of the mild winter, if you can even call it a winter.
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions for how to keep those pesky rabbits out of our yard? We won't say which one, but one of us finds them quite tasty.
Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
Yes!! How do you keep away flea, ticks and mosquitoes? Without having to put nasty drops on? They're absolutely terrible here
ReplyDeleteDachshund Nola
My mom says her yard needs so much help that she wouldn't know where to start asking questions, so I'll ask. She thought those bunny ears in your masthead photo are so cute that now she wants to find a pair and put them on me. How do I stop her?
ReplyDeletePee. Ess. We've heard about taking brewer's yeast as a mosquito repellent; it has vitamin B.
Oops--that was from yr friend Miro!
ReplyDeleteWe are looking for organic ways to decrease bugs. We are not sure what is eating our plants but they love our Gerbeara Daisies and our peach tree.... Mommy is scared to eat the crops!
ReplyDeleteLicks,
Ruthie
If anybody knows everything about gardening, it's you, Wyatt! What a great idea for Fridays!
ReplyDeleteLove ya lots,
Mitch
I love your new gardening advise!
ReplyDeleteWyatt what an excellent idea! We will read with great interest the advice you give to our friends.
ReplyDeleteMolly, Taffy, Monty and Winnie.
WHO better to turn to than YOU and Stanzie... After all YOU ARE Blogville's Secretaries of AGRICULTURE !!
ReplyDeleteNow about that buggie problem... I know of two things that can be planted and do a grrrrreat job.
Marigolds!!! You plant them and when you want to go out pick off a few leaves and RUB them on yourself.. Skeeters HATE Marigolds... and put a bow kay on your picnic table and RUB a few leaves...
Fur BOTH Fleas and TICKS... they HATE APPLE Mint. It is soooooo easy to grow and you can also use it in TEA Jelly and those Minty Julip thingys. (Make sure you get APPLE mint, that works and some of the other varieties of mint Don't.)
Butt my mom... the PYRO Woman... likes to burn candles too.
What a great Friday post! :)
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Wyatt. We're lucky that we don't have many bugs...just mossies in summer and FLIES!!
ReplyDeleteXXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy
They never even thought about that stuff!!! Fertilizer never bugged my feets
ReplyDeleteBet you got the answers Wyatt. We will think of something
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
Dear Wyatt, My Mama will be your best question asker. Her green thumb is more of a muddy, olive-ish colour. We never knew that bats eat bugs! Maybe we'll have to build a bat house or something. The bugs get thick here! We also have a BIG aphid problem. We always buy a whole bunch of ladybugs to release in our yard, since they eat aphids, mites, white flies and scale bugs - all the ones that tend to eat up our veggie garden!
ReplyDeleteWyatt we think we can learn a lot from your gardening Friday post..we are afraid we aren't very green pawed!LOL
ReplyDeleteLove your new header.
Have a great weekend
Big Nose Pokes
The Thugletsx
Hi Wyatt! Wow! Those are some great smile pictures of you! We can tell that you truly enjoy your gardening!! And you are very SMART!! We will try to think of a question to ask. xoxo Chloe and LadyBug
ReplyDeleteWonderful idea! Can't think of anyone better than you to host a gardening "column!". You lOok so cute in these Emily pictures! And we love those bun bun ears too!
ReplyDeletexo Sammie and Avalon
Wyatt what a fabulous idea! I am soooooo excited! You are so nice to share your wealth of gardening expertise. Thank you :D Great info on the dreaded mosquitos. Oh! Mom wanted me to tell you about the Christmas pressie I got for her. It's a bug zapper "The Amazing Glow In The Dark Bug Zapper" looks like a tennis racket. I got it for her cause when she'd smack her hands together trying to kill em she'd scare me. She luvs her bug zapper. Never seen someone get such a gleam in their eyes at the thought of killing a bug. Well that's Mom fur yaz. Nutty. Oh, if you want one, they sell em on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteNow I do have a question or two or 87 gazillion as Frankie would say ;)
I will restrain myself to one this week. ;)
We get bad flea infestations here in Florida. If you recall I had quite the time of it last year. In addition to new meds for me, we've had to spray our yard with nasty chemicals every month to keep them in check. Mom hates it butt says it's better than experiencing an out of control flea infestation again. We've heard about flea nematodes butt aren't sure if they really work.
What's your thoughts on an effective organic or chemical free flea treatment for our yard?
Thanks pal :)
Waggin at ya,
Roo
I love your new "Ask Wyatt" Friday post idea! I love that you posed by all of the chemical-free mosquito and gnat repellents because seeing your face made the mosquito problems seem less bothersome! Thanks for thinking of this great Friday post idea! Too cute!
ReplyDeleteWyatt,
ReplyDeleteThank you SSOOOOOOOO much for your suggestions. Maybe this is the summer Mom and Dad can actually eat outside, instead of running in and out while they are grilling.
We'll let you know how it works out.
Thank you again and now we are REALLY excited to hear other puppies questions and concerns.
Violet and peeps!
We love that you use only natural products. My Mama just went through all her body and face products and got rid of 80% of it and switched to natural or organic products.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your advice Wyatt. We have mossies here too, in summer and they are a darn nuisance. We burn citronella candles and they are good. No worries, and love, Stella and Rory
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! We have lotsa mosquitos here, and mommy and Taylor always get bitten up when they go outside. It would be nice for them to go out without worrying about that.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... I LOVE your bunny ears! Snazzy!
Woofs & hugs, <3
~Bailey (Yep, I'm a girl!)
First of all Wyatt, you are extremely photogenic. All of your pictures are picture perfect. You are so beautiful. I love this idea for Fridays.I don't really do much gardening, but I love to read and learn about it. Great advice today by the way.
ReplyDeleteWe hate those pesky bugs, too! Mom says she's afraid it's going to be a bad year for bugs this year.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is a way to keep the ticks off Kuster. He seems to attract them like a magnet. Mom worries about him getting tick born diseases because while he uses Frontline, the ticks have to bite him before they get the poison. We don't want them biting the little guy!
Bunny