Home Removal Services Blog

If you’ve ever had to get rid of gophers from your lawn or garden, then you’ll know just how frustrating a process it is. If you are now faced with the problem of gophers, why don’t you find out from someone who has tried all the tricks, which is the one that actually works.

The first step in eradicating these annoying pests, is to find out about their habits and behaviors, understand what they’re doing and why exactly, they are burrowing under your lawn and causing you such grief!

When a gopher is burrowing under your garden, there is more than just superficial damage occurring. While gophers don’t eat the roots of plants, their digging pulls up the roots and exposes to them to external damage. The digging can also cause rocks to be exposed and that can be damaging to any garden machinery you may be using. Also, the piles of dirt that accumulate at the entrance to their holes, are fresh soil for weeds to take root.

There are many ways that you can try to get rid of gophers. Here’s just a few of the more popular ones: *Trapping – this is certainly the most common method used. However it may take a bit of practice learning to set the trap correctly and then you will need to get rid of the body. *Exclusion – using small mesh fencing or plastic netting, you could protect a portion of your garden if there are particular plants that you want to make sure stay safe. *Gassing & Flooding – with both of these methods, gophers have been known to retreat to a section of the burrow and then block off the tunnel. *Poison pellets – this is probably the easiest option, but care must be taken to ensure the safety of other animals (such as pet dogs or cats). And you may have to deal with the gopher body if they decide to come above ground to die. *Repellents – you can buy synthetic products that have the odor of gopher predators.

All these methods have their merits, but the important fact is… it needs to be something that works, and works permanently. I’ve been frustrated by gophers invading my lawn so I’ve written a blog about my experiences and what I’ve learnt.

If you are sick of fighting this battle with gophers (or moles or vols) on your land, you are not alone. I’ve written about my experiences and how I was able to Get Rid Of Gophers. This site www.GopherRemoval.info will give you access to help and information about these pests and how to get rid of them.

As summer closes and fall settles in, you may notice insect pests are settling in your greenhouse, too. Vegetation in your greenhouse provides an appetizing alternative to the outside garden. Aphids are a common greenhouse problem, and not the easiest to combat.

The first step in dealing with aphids in your garden greenhouse is to make sure you carefully monitor plants you choose to transplant into your greenhouse. Plants selected for your greenhouse should be healthy and vigorous. In addition, you should spray them down with your garden hose to knock off any hitchhikers. If the plant has an obvious insect infestation, do not bring it into your greenhouse without more drastic measures. You can spray it with an insect control spray, or enclose it with a plastic bag in which you place an insecticide strip for two or three days. After taking your plants out of the treatment bag, hose them down before transplanting them to your greenhouse.

Sometimes aphids can become established no matter how careful you are in your preparations and preventative tactics. In this case, there are several alternative paths you can take. If you are a purist and do not want to use insecticides in our greenhouse environment, you have a couple options. Hosing down infected plants with a powerful stream from your garden hose can be effective for a while. If you plan on closing down your greenhouse soon, this may be the best option. Some hobby greenhouse gardeners choose to shut their greenhouse down for anywhere from 2-4 months in the winter allowing Mother Nature to take over and freeze out insect pests. If you want a little more aggressive natural control, diatomaceous earth is effective. You can sprinkle this powder on and under leaves of effected plants. If you catch the problem early and have isolated insects in one part of your greenhouse, this can be an effective control.

Another way to control your aphid problem is to use a fast acting insecticide that is safe for using on vegetable gardens. There are several varieties out there that are “garden safe.” Check your local garden center or hardware store for alternatives. Most of these involve an organic insecticidal soap that takes care of aphids, or at least significantly reduces their number. You can also make your own version of this by mixing a tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with water in a quart sprayer. The soap coats the aphids and reduces their numbers. You have to spray every day for best results, paying particular attention to the underside of leaves of infected plants.

Another alternative to aphid control are biological controls, such as lacewings, ladybugs and midges. Several companies provide these predators for your greenhouses. If using this approach, be sure to limit your use of insecticidal spray, as it will kill off your predator population, as well as your pests.

Using a combination of the above controls, you can keep your greenhouse healthy and productive throughout the fall and winter greenhouse growing seasons.

Betsy Woodworth writes about gardening advice and also about how to build a greenhouse.