Valentine's - Moles, Roaches and Roses

We finally had some rain and I can see the ‘spring fever’ picking up. I have noticed several people planting new plants, pruning, and cleaning up their yards.

Still the most asked question I get is about that little furry guy (or gal) the mole. As popular (or problematic) as the mole is the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition should dedicate an area for the mole. Realize hunting moles is a war not a battle.

I’m sticking with the three pronged approach:

1. Kill the mole. Trap it. Poison it. Dig it up. Have your dog dig it up. Kill it.
2. Manage the food source. If you thought Michael Phelps burned a lot of calories swimming in a pool, think of a mole swimming through the soil. The mole eats constantly. If you jump to step 2 before doing step 1, the mole tunnels around even more looking for food and tearing up you yard.
3. Create a repellent border to keep new moles from moving into your yard to occupy the previous mole’s tunnels. Again if you skip step 1, you might trap a mole in your yard with the repellent. If you have a dog fence and the dog escapes, then the dog cannot get back into the yard because the barrier will not let him back in the yard. Similar idea. When using snake repellents or mole repellents you want to be sure your yard is free of the undesirables first.

With all the cardboard boxes associated with the holiday season and the cooler weather, roaches seemed to hit a population spike. Treating the perimeter of your house (outside) and using growth regulators and baits inside your house, should go a long way to tackle (left over Super Bowl lingo) this issue. We have been seeing some very effective ‘green’ products introduced on this side of our business. When commercial pest management professionals are willing to use them in their business, you know they are effective.

Rose pruning and sanitation is beginning. Remember to spray lime sulfur on the ground around the plants to kill overwintering fungus spores. If you have other plants that get leaf spot diseases, consider using lime sulfur spray around them as well. Blueberries, hydrangeas and figs could also benefit from this ground spray.

Oh yeah, one other small thing that should be applied to your landscape beds and lawn areas right now – PREEMERGENT PRODUCTS!! Kill some weeds, proactively.