Common Garden Pests

A lot of homeowners have a love-hate relationship with the insects in their garden. There are bugs that are great and beneficial for the garden since they defend plants against harmful pests, enhance soil quality, improve pollination, and much more.   

However, other pests can taint produce, stunt growth, and damage foliage. So, which insects are good for your garden and which ones are bad?  

Though the exact pests that invade any garden will differ on the season, weather patterns, plants, climate, and region, there are a couple of pests that are common and troublesome to homeowners in a lot of various regions. Today, we’re going to share with you some of the most common garden pests. If you’re having trouble with these pests, contact a professional garden landscaping Albuquerque company for help. 

Armyworms 

These greenish or brown larvae march throughout plants like an army. They skeletonize plants and chew through leaves. They will also gnaw into fruits. They’re typically active during the night. Luckily, you can control minor infestation with a simple hand-picking method. If more armyworms are present, you might require insecticides. 

Grasshoppers 

You can instantly recognize these leaping pests with their strong jaws, large heads, and long legs. Their jaws can defoliate the stems and leaves of a huge range of plants and crops. If you use row covers on young garden plants, you can discourage these pests.  

Other ideal control methods include rototilling in the spring or fall to destroy their eggs and allowing birds in the garden to eat the insects.  

Tomato Hornworms 

Tomato hornworms are big caterpillars. Typically, they’re difficult to detect due to their diagonal stripes and amazing green camouflage. However, you cannot miss the damage they can do to your garden. These pests can chew through fruit, stems, and leaves. The easiest way to get rid of them is to hand-pick them. You can also get rid of their larvae if you till the soil in early spring or late fall. You can also prevent hornworms with the help of ladybugs.  

Snails 

These shelled and slow-moving mollusks can do serious damage to your garden. Snails can chew on the foliage. They will also leave behind gross trails. However, hand-picking is a great method of control since they are slow. You can also allow birds to eat these snails.  

You can prevent snails from infesting your garden if you lower watering after dark. You should also try applying diatomaceous earth around your plants.  

Scales 

Scales look like white pale lumps that infest both outdoor and indoor plants. They usually suck the plant’s sap. Because of this, it stunts the growth of your plant and causes wilting. If the infestation is severe, it can kill the plant.  

If you want to prevent this type of infestation, make sure you’ve got praying mantises and ladybugs in your garden.  

Aphids 

Aphids are pear-shaped, pale green, and small bugs that appear in big groups. They suck the plant’s sap. This can lead to slow growth and wilting. If you’ve got a severe aphid infestation, you might have to hire a professional to get rid of them.  

Important Benefits of Solar Energy

Solar energy offers a lot of benefits that most people don’t know about but are equally vital while selecting one system or another. Here are some of them: 

Economic impact 

Most of the system’s costs come from solar panel installation themselves. As a result, it helps in promoting local job creation. Now that solar energy is widely used and has become popular all over the world, it provided a great impact on the economy within areas that mostly consider using this system in their homes. Hence, job creation increases and improving the economy as a whole.  

Improved power grid security 

This is a vital indirect advantage of using solar energy, which directly affects the power grid’s efficiency if ever typical issues like voltage dips and blackouts happen. The likeliness of introducing solar energy from millions or just thousands of individual energy-production centers can help in improving the security on the power gid against fires or overloads in transformer substations.  

Environmental impact 

Solar energy’s impact does not emit noise pollution, making it a vital factor that you have to consider when installing them in urban places. Moreover, it does not produce any waste since it’s not high maintenance. Plus, you can expect that it’ll last way longer compared to other systems that produce energy. As a matter of fact, solar panels are intended to end the environmental effects during severe weather situations.  

Multipurpose installation 

The solar panel installation’s simplicity and easiness indicate that solar panels can be set up almost anywhere, taking advantage of both horizontal and vertical areas without any particular use. Together with the system’s flexibility and modularity, this factor simplifies the small-scale solar project’s installation. Plus, you can also expand the installation based on the needs at any given time.  

However, what’s best about solar energy is that it can potentially generate electricity in remote areas, where the electrical distribution line’s installation cost is too unfeasible or high.  

Less energy lost during long-distance transport 

Losses during distribution and transport of energy increase with the distance between the supply and production points. Though such losses are only minimal, they can still impact the installation’s performance especially in areas that are densely populated.  

On the contrary, given the individual setup of solar panels on rooftops, the distances are reduced drastically, boosting the electrical system’s efficiency.  

No costs for energy production 

Solar energy doesn’t need any external supply to function. Meaning, its energy production, and maintenance costs are basically zero. The only cost you need to consider when you use solar energy is the solar panel installation and the manufacture’s components. In other words, even if it’s initially a massive investment, there are no extra costs linked with its use. Hence, the installation is quickly recovered.  

If you’re interested to install and use solar energy on your business or property, guarantee to entrust this crucial task to the professionals and refuse from making this a DIY job for you to take. Contact us today for more information. 

Signs That You Have to Remove a Tree

For a lot of people, the trees in their properties have been around for a long time. Some of them might have planted and tended the trees from the start and are now big. Either way, it is known that a lot of homeowners form unique bonds with their trees and do not want to consider having them removed.

Aside from the sentimental problem, getting rid of a tree is a hassle. It can be extremely overwhelming to consider a tree removal service.

Naturally, trees have a life cycle and face a lot of threats that can compromise their stability and health. A lot of services are designed to maintain trees, such as tree pruning and tree trimming Greeley. However, there are still occasions where getting rid of a tree is inevitable. Today, we’re going to share some indications that you have to remove a tree.

The Tree is Close to Another Structure

People love their long-standing and large trees. However, the consequences can be serious if they’re getting a bit too close to another structure. Nothing will damage the relationship with a neighbor faster than having a huge branch of tree fall on their roof and causing damage. If this occurs, you won’t only find yourself spending a lot of money on repairs, you will also have to spend money to get rid of the tree.

Hollow Tree Trunk

It can be fascinating to look inside a hollow tree trunk, especially when you were a kid. While it is indeed magical, having a hollow tree trunk can affect the tree’s structural integrity. It might be time for tree removal if you notice a hollow tree trunk.

The Tree is Leaning

It can indicate serious structural issues that you have to tackle if you notice that the tree is leaning to one side. You should immediately contact a professional tree service company if you notice this problem. This is particularly true if the tree is leaning next to your property.

The Tree is a Runt

There are a lot of reasons why a particular tree does not appear as healthy as the other trees surrounding it. You have to take action if the tree is displaying thin leaf cover or discolored foliage or if it has stopped growing. There might still be ways to save it. However, only a professional arborist will be able to help you.

You See Huge Dead Branches in the Tree Crown

This can present a severe risk to the safety of a person near the tree. It’s only a matter of time before a branch falls if dead branches start to gather in the tree crown. This is particularly true if you’re living in a region with a windy climate. This is a threat you cannot afford. Hire a professional right away.

The Tree is Infected

Trees are prone to infections that can severely damage their structural integrity and health. A tree might be infected if you notice that the wood is soft or if there are deep cracks or splits in the bark. Call an arborist right away.