Grub protection time is coming soon. Order Now.
Grubs will be hatching soon. When they do, they have a tendency to do a lot of damage to lawns. Here in Ontario, Merit is not longer a legal product. (even though the granular Merit that we used to use is less poisonous than table salt.)
Nematodes are now the only choice in Ontario. Nematodes are microscopic worms that find their way into the grubs. Once inside, they multiply and produce a toxin that knocks the grubs off the scene.
Nematodes are living organisms and need special treatment and care. They require lots of moisture to prevent them from drying and dying. Ideally, applications done during a rain are the best. Unfortunately, there aren't enough rainy days during the August-September time period that everyone who is supposed to get a nematode treatment. The folks with sprinklers are lucky- set the sprinkler system to manual ! and give the lawn a watering. This will get the nematodes off the lawn and down into the soil.
Please order your Grub Protection Now. There are indications that Nematodes may be in short supply.
If you
have a lawn/tree/shrub that needs some Tender Loving Care- get The KING OF
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This link is to an article from Kansas City. We can't use the products she is suggesting here in Ontario, Canada, but the other information is helpful.
Eat Your Weeds Away: Dandelion Greens
Written by Leslie Quigley
Published on May 29th, 2009
I can remember as a kid blowing the fuzz off of a dandelion weed and making a wish. Little did I know that dandelions were nutritious. Dandelion greens are considered a leafy vegetable that contain more nutrition than broccoli. Having a higher content of vitamins A, and C, and iron. Dandelions also contain lots of magnesium and potassium.
The best time to eat dandelion greens is in the spring and early summer when the leaves are still young. Dandelion greens should be harvested in early spring, before the flowers appear. Th! ey’re a bit bitter but taste fantastic in a salad. You can als! o saute the flowers, roots and leaves with onion and garlic, serve them on a sandwich or salad, boil the leaves and serve like spinach or add them to your green smoothies like I do!
Dandelions are a natural diuretic and a spring tonic. Dandelion is used to cleanse the body naturally and is an herbal detoxification saint. It is believed that the herb produces beneficial effects by removing toxic pollutants in the body that have accumulated over time. It has also been known to prevent or cure various forms of Cancer.
Dandelions have many therapeutic benefits they support digestion, prevents anemia reduce swelling and inflammation, helps with hypertension and lowering blood sugar, treat skin problems such as eczema, warts and acne and number of other ailments including gallstones and gout. It is known as one of the most effective and beneficial herbal remedies. The roots, stems, and leaves of the dandelion excrete a white sticky resin, This sticky resin when applied! directly to warts daily, several times a day, will slowly help to dissolve them.
A few other ways to use dandelion are : Make a tea using the flowers by boiling them in water for 15 minutes, roast the roots of dandelion to make a coffee substitute and for you wine connoisseur’s try making dandelion wine.
Dandelion’s are considered weeds and are known to be pesky. Plain and simple dandelions have a bad rap! So, next time you think of a dandelion think of all the great qualities it possesses. Forage your lawn for these nutritious leafy greens rather than spray them down with toxic chemicals. For old time’s sake, you can blow a wish to health. Take advantage of their healing and cleansing benefits. Eat your weeds away!
Article at
http://ecochildsplay.com/
Somethin’ strange…in your neighbourhood?
By Jim Hynes
Raccoons destroying your garden, skunks living in your cabana, bats in your attic, ants in your kitchen, fungus on your tree leaves, weird worms in your lawn? Who you gonna call? Call UNIS!
McGill students Mel Lefebvre and Christie Lovat field hundreds of calls (and emails) like these every summer in a non-descript former classroom in the Raymond Building on Macdonald Campus. The two are officers at the Urban Nature Information Service (UNIS), a not-for-profit organization affiliated with McGill’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences providing answers to horticultural, wildlife and green-living inquiries from callers all over Quebec.
The program started as the Horticultural Information Centre back in 1982, a free service offered by the Plant Science Department. In 2001, it merged with a similar service called the Wildlife Information Centre, run by the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, to create UNIS. Today, the program is staffed by students and overseen by two coordinators: Dr. David Bird, professor of Wildlife Biology in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, and Dr. Danielle Donnelly, a professor in the Plant Science Department.
When they can, Lefebvre and Lovat offer solutions to horticultural and wildlife dilemmas both common and unusual. They will even examine samples, of insects or damaged leaves for example, to get to the bottom of their callers’ problems.
When it comes to situations involving wild animals, however, UNIS acts as more of a referral service.
“If we are unable to help someone, like in the case of caring for an injured bird, which is illegal in Quebec without the proper permit, we can provide the numbers of organizations who can help,” says Lefebvre, who will be completing her studies in biodiversity and conservation at the McGill School of the Environment in the fall.
Every summer, UNIS staff update the list of the services they refer people to, services with names like Eco-Bug Doctor and Squirrel Rehab, to make sure the information they are providing is still accurate.
Some calls though, like the first one they received one morning in early July, can be handled with a little experience and common sense. A man in Dollard-des-Ormeaux has discovered a duck and a nest with four unhatched eggs in it near his backyard swimming pool, so Lefebvre advises him to pit the nest in a box and walk, it, slowly, to a nearby park that has a pond. Mother duck, she explains, will surely waddle behind.
Many calls to UNIS last summer, says Lovat, a Botanical Science student, were about white grubs and the animals that like to eat them ravaging suburban lawns.
“We don’t have as many white grub questions this year. A lot of our calls right now are about tree diseases. The cold spring has resulted in a lot of cold damage to trees. People are concerned that trees that were beautiful and full last year have fewer leaves and dead branches this year,” Lovat says. “In most cases we just reassure them that their tree is not dying and will come back to normal if they cut off the dead branches.”
The past two years have offered a new challenge to the UNIS officers as they got to take their know-how on the road to be shared with local municipalities and their residents. In bi-weekly visits to Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a community on the farthest reaches of the West Island, they give workshops and field questions on subjects like environmentally friendly lawn care, composting methods, white grub control, recycling, and dealing with wild animals in urban settings.
Another challenge, an ongoing one, is funding. UNIS has traditionally been funded through donations from various Quebec municipalities, a grant provided by the Federal Government, and by support from the Natural Resource Science Department. Funding cuts of any kind, UNIS says, could jeopardize the future of the service.
To reach UNIS, call 514-398-7882, email them at
unis.macdonald@mcgill.ca, or visit them online at
www.unis.mcgill.ca
Article from
http://reporter.mcgill.ca/2009/07
