If you’re not already doing it, it’s time to be out in the garden taking a close look at what’s happening. Is there anything munching your plants? Figure out what’s happening now before they do more damage.

We live in a great neighborhood where you meet a lot of people during their evening strolls. During the summer it takes an hour to walk around the mile loop just because you’re stopping to talk to everyone.

Aphids

A couple of weeks ago our neighbors came past and asked me if I knew what would make the leaves on their trees curl. I stopped by their garden a couple of days later to take a look. From the bottom to the tops of the trees patches of leaves curled up and looked awful. And when I opened them, there was white fuzz and what looked like the biggest aphids I’d ever seen. After research I figured out it was the Ash Leafcurl Aphid.

Supposedly the aphid infestation won’t kill the tree (particularly if it’s on less than fifty percent of the foliage), but we’ve had such a stressful several years, particularly for the trees, that leaving them unchecked on the tree could put it over the edge. I think what they ended up doing is hitting them with an insecticidal soap for as far as they could reach. It won’t kill them all, but at least it’ll give the tree a better chance.

I’ve been noticing a few things around our place. I looked at the apple tree in our front yard, and found a weird type of cocoon underneath one of the leaves. It looked as if the caterpillar rolled itself up in a leaf and sealed itself in there. I had Sam put it in his butterfly cage. We’ll keep an eye on it to see what emerges.

Earwigs in the Garden

There’s a big crop of earwigs this year in the garden. I even saw a little one, probably only a quarter of an inch long, in the bathroom. This does not bode well, and I have a feeling I should buy more diatomaceous earth.

On the topic of DE, I need to dust my peppers because something is chewing on the leaves. I’m not sure what it is because I’ve never found anything in particular, but they are sustaining more damage than I’d prefer. Other than that, everything looks pretty good, and I don’t see any major issues. (Except for being way behind in my weeding after an unexpected abdominal surgery. It’s funny how a week away will make things grow exponentially!)

Taking the time to observe what’s happening in the garden isn’t only to look for problems. It’s also an opportunity to enjoy the ever-changing life that’s happening right in front of us.

One thing I love about having little kids is they are right at eye level with a lot of it, and they will take the time to watch. They see things I don’t because I’m zipping past focused on one project or another. But I’ve seen them sit for extended periods of time watching ants busily working in the soil, crab spiders perched on leaves or bees on flowers. We all need to try to do the same if only to have a closer connection to this fleeting season.