CHICAGO — Everyone’s least favorite guest is back, and the pest company Orkin says that mosquitoes just love Chicago.
In an article this spring from Better Home and Garden, the publication cites a survey from Orkin that ranks cities with the worst mosquitoes annually.
Sitting atop the list are the cities of Los Angeles and New York at No. 1 and 2, respectively, but Chicago — With our humid summers and somewhat frequent rainfall — comes in third place.
Dallas and Atlanta rounded out the top five.
While Orkin would love you to call them, most people create their own mosquito problem with standing water on their property.
Search high and low around your house for any areas of standing water, or anything that will collect water when it rains, whether it’s an upside down town in the backyard, or gutters that still have fall leaves clogging them.
If the mosquitoes are already present, there are many plants can repel the blood suckers!
According to epicgardening.com, Lavender, mint, rosemary, basil, marigold, lemon balm and peppermint will all do the trick. Another plant, citronella, doesn’t naturally repel mosquitoes, but the plant’s oils will when you crush them up.
Viewer email No. 1: When to take off the cicada netting
Vicki from Batavia wrote in about the cicada netting she’s used to protect the young trees in her yard, and she wants to know if she can take them off yet.
While most of the periodic cicadas have emerged, a few more could still come with some hot weather ahead, and we’ve still got the annual cicadas that emerge typically in late June and early July so, if you’re sick of seeing the netting, you could be rid of it now, but if you want to play it on the safe side, I’d wait until about the second week of July.
Viewer email No. 2: Quarantining plants before introducing them to the rest of the house plant community
Thomas from Chicago wrote in about how long he should quarantine his new house plants before he puts them into his collection of house plants.
Great question Thomas! And one I didn’t even think about until I introduced a plant into my own collection without inspecting it thoroughly first, a few years ago.
I ended up exposing all the plants in my dining room to a mealy bug infestation! But since I routinely shop the discount bin at nurseries and hardware stores for plant projects and little leafy friends a new forever home, I should have known better.
The best practices are to keep a new plant in its original container for a bout a week in a room away from your other plants, provided you can keep an eye on it for any potential problems, and make sure to fix those problems before you bring it fully into your collection.
The good news though is that many house plants are tropical in origin and can survive outside this time of year in our climate, giving you even more options for where to keep them until you can find out if they’re disease and pest-free.
If you’ve got any gardening questions, I’d love to hear them! Just email me here at the station with where you live and pictures of your problem plants, at the address below:
TJoyce@wgntv.com