Q: Many of my neighbors are having their yards treated for mosquitoes. We've always controlled ours by making sure there weren't any standing water sources in the yard by cleaning out the gutters regularly and changing the bird bath daily.
This spring, I noticed an increase in bad bugs in our yards and a decrease of good bugs. Is it possible there is a correlation between the spraying for mosquitoes and the increase of bad bugs?
A: While I have no way of knowing what your neighbors are spraying, anything that kills mosquitoes would likely affect other insects as well. Many of the mosquito sprays are contact sprays that kill insects on contact, not just mosquitoes. I would bet there is a direct correlation between their spraying and the absence of good bugs.
Mosquito control groups generally prefer to use granular or pelleted larvacides in persistent areas of standing water to kill the larvae before they become adult mosquitoes. They also recommend getting rid of breeding places to reduce the population.
Q: What kind of grass can simply live with what nature gives it in Richmond? I want grass that I can plant in the fall, do the SOD fertilizer routine, then let it alone and watch it survive. Got any suggestions?
A: I used to tell groups that if you didn't do anything to your yard in the Richmond area fescue would not show up on its own. Common Bermuda grass grows here naturally.
Bermuda is also called wiregrass, when you don't want it. One way to have a green lawn year-round in Richmond without lots of fertilizers and chemicals is to allow the native grasses to take over and overseed the lawn in October with rye grass.
The rye will die with the first hot weather in the spring and the Bermuda will have already started to green up.
Bermuda is the grass of choice on all of the golf course fairways in central Virginia as well as the athletic fields at our high schools and colleges. It requires far less maintenance than fescue and gets stronger each year.
Its main limitation is that it doesn't grow in heavy shade.
Q: I've gotten conflicting advice on the care of Phalaenopsis orchids. I've been told to use three ice cubes for watering, but I think I just read recently not to do this. What is right?
A: Orchids are specialty plants, so I went to my friend Art Chadwick of Chadwick's Orchids for an answer. According to Chadwick, there are three basic problems with using ice cubes — the amount, the temperature and the frequency of the water.
He experimented with three ice cubes and found that when they melt, you have less than ½ cup of water. This is not nearly enough to satisfy your orchid. His suggestion is to completely drench the soil, so the water will run all the way through the container and out the drain hole. This should take several cups of water.
As for temperature, orchids are tropical plants whose roots would be very sensitive to the cold droplets they'd be receiving as the ice melts. Phalaenopsis should ideally get their moisture from room temperature water, at least 65 degrees.
Lastly, Chadwick suggested that orchids need to be watered twice each week. Otherwise, the leaves go limp and the blossoms close too early.
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