GARDEN BUGS EVERYWHERE!!!!

imsarah · Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:57 pm

We've got this hill at the back of the lawn that was completely overgrown with weeds up to your knees so I don't know what the gardener put up there to kill them but they're all wilted and dead and now the hills just a big pile of dried up dead leaves. I was thinking of just covering it with ground cover and being done with it. I started raking the deadness yesterday and the entire section of dirt I raked came alive with bugs. It was like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom up there! Huge pincer bugs/earwigs, spiders, worms, other stuff I don't know the names of! Freaked me out!!! I hate bugs.

Most ground covers I know of are just going to be a big giant hiding place for stuff like that so I'm thinking I want to go with some irish moss. It looks pretty much like grass so thats attractive, but its also low to the ground so I won't have to worry about mowing it. Its low enough to the ground so there wont be room for spiders and such to be swarming in the undergrowth... I hope. Then I can also work in some stepping stones or section off some areas to plant some colorful flowers or something.

Theres also tons of rocks on this hill. Crazy amount of rocks. Can I plant over those? Or do I have to actually go through and remove them one by one?

opabinia51 · Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:47 am

I like your idea. Don't worry to much about the insects, they are feeding on all the leaf litter now that you have it and then there are the insects feeding on the grazers.

Anyway, I have found that pulling up as many as the rocks as you can works best, it takes a lot of hard work but, is enjoyable when you watch the progress that you make. You can create the dry riverbed effect and other designs if you like.

Moss will grow on rocks though. But, you do have a free resource here that can make your area look really great so, you might as well use it.

PS I find a Maddok (aka a pick) and a good shovel works best with a wheel barrel.

webmaster · Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:45 am

Opa,
Would you consider the presence of bugs a positive thing?

opabinia51 · Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:41 pm

100% did I write something above that led you to believe that I didn't Rog?

Though I realize that people have phobias and such so, you do what you can.

Grey · Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:50 am

Well, the bug population might be high right now because of all the leaf litter and such, but eventually the birds and other predators will find them, plus their population will die down naturally as all the leaf litter is consumed, so it won't always be like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie.