Gardening
for Your Watershed – April 2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topics in this issue:
- Rainbarrel Classes
- WSU Master Gardener Plant Sale
- Pest of the Month: Time to Go on Patrol
- Salmon Friendly
Lawn Signs Now Available
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rainbarrel Classes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the snowpack that feeds the Nooksack River—and ultimately Lake Whatcom—at only 16% of normal levels, water conservation this summer will be more important than ever. To help you maximize what rainwater we do get, the WSU Extension Master Composter/Recycler Program and the City of Bellingham are offering two classes on making your own rainbarrel. Rainbarrels capture water running off your roof and store it for use in watering your garden.
The classes will be held on Thursday, April 21 and Tuesday, April 26, 7-9 p.m., at the Bloedel-Donovan Pavilion, 2214 Electric Ave., Bellingham. The fee is $35 and includes all materials. You’ll leave the class with your very own rainbarrel to install at home.
To sign up for the class, contact Anitra Accetturo, City of Bellingham Water Conservation Programs Coordinator, at 676-6850 or aaccetturo@cob.org. Space is limited to 15 people per class.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WSU Master Gardener Plant Sale
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This year’s Master Gardener Plant Sale will be held on Saturday,
May 7, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., at Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale.
Drought tolerant planting information will be available. There will also
be free seminars:
11:00 — Composting
11:30 — Edible Landscaping
12:00 — Making Potting Soil
12:15 — Container Planting
12:30 — Making Rainbarrels
1:00 — Composting
Plenty of Master Gardeners will be there to answer your gardening questions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pest of the Month: Time to Go on Patrol
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although the summer dog days seem like a long way off, now is actually
the best time to control two common summer pests, the European crane
fly and the European paperwasp.
People are sometimes concerned about the damage that crane fly can do to lawns, but the actual damage is caused by the larvae, or leatherjackets—brown, leathery grubs that nibble on grass roots in early spring. By early summer, they have gone dormant, and in late summer, the adults, who do not eat anything, emerge. WSU entomologists recommend monitoring for high numbers of leatherjackets and treating, if necessary, in April.
As for European paperwasps, they are actually beneficial insects, but their “pestiness” is due to where they like to build their nests, such as mailboxes and other places near or in houses. This writer found a nest and several angry paperwasps last summer when she innocently picked up a watering can, causing her to run shrieking around the house. To avoid startled neighbors or unpleasant stings, patrol for the paperwasps’ small, hazelnut-sized grayish nests now, when only the paperwasp queens are present and before the first broods hatch.
For more information about crane fly and how to manage it, visit the Lake-Friendly Garden Kit web site at:
http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit/UnWantedPests/Cranefly.htm
For more information about the European paperwasp, read the August 2004 issue of this newsletter at:
http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit/Newsletters/04_08.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free 'Salmon Friendly Lawn Signs' Now Available
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SeaWolf Coastal Protection announces the availability of FREE, 6-inch by 9-inch
'Salmon Friendly Lawn Signs' to all homeowners who are willing to eliminate the
use of toxic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides from their gardens in 2005.
These colorful signs are designed to be placed on a small stake on your lawn,
and will help promote increased awareness about the problem of toxic gardening
run-off in your neighborhood. Signs are available for free by sending a self-addressed,
stamped (80-cents) envelope to: SeaWolf, PO Box 929, Marysville WA 98270. For
more information, please contact SeaWolf at www.projectseawolf.org or projseawolf@earthlink.net.
=============================
For more watershed-friendly gardening tips, visit http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit.
This newsletter is produced by Whatcom County Extension and Whatcom
County Water Resources. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to make comments
and suggestions, please contact Scarlet Tang at scarlet@wsu.edu or 676-6736.
Archives are available at http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit/newsletter.htm.
