Next events:

February 18, 2012 - Annual Pruning Workshop, 9 AM - Noon, community members are invited. To be held at Redwood High School, 1968 Old County Road, Redwood City

March 2012 Inaugural "Tree Walk" and Brunch. Docent-led walk through Wellesley Crescent Park, Arlington Ave. and Stafford Park. Invited guests will be those making a CityTrees donation by December 31, 2011.

We will send out notice to our mailing list ... are you on our mailing list? Go HERE to put yourself on it!
 

From CityTrees ...

February 2012 Tip of the Month -- Good Bugs, Bad Bugs–Beneficial Insects 

There are good bugs and there are bad bugs. Often, our attention and interest is directed to the bad bugs and we spend much of our time worrying about aphids, thrips, coddling moths, pine bark beetles, lawn grubs, tomato hornworms rose slugs and white flies. Less frequently do we hear about soldier beetles, hover flies, green or brown lacewings, snake flies, pirate bugs, trichogramma wasps and ladybugs. These latter bugs are in the ‘good bugs’ class and we should encourage them in our gardens.

Early in spring, gardeners discover curled plum leaves, concerned they have peach leaf curl on their plum plants. The problem turns out to be aphids which suck on the lower part of the leaf causing it to curl. As it continues to curl, spraying becomes hopeless because the leaf has curled over the aphids, protecting them. We advise that next year, the gardeners spray when the leaves are a half-inch long and before they start to curl. Meanwhile, within a few days, the soldier beetles move in. These are orange and black, slender bodied, winged beetles three-quarters to one inch long. Their favorite food is aphids! There may be as many as a few hundred soldier beetles flying around the plum tree and then crawling into the curled up leaves to feast on the aphids.

“My rosebuds are covered with aphids and there are some little orange and black ‘worms’ eating them,” she said. These are the larval stages of our ladybird beetles eating the aphids. Sometimes the little half round adult beetle will show up for a snack. Another gardener with a similar problem has green ‘worms’ eating his aphids. These are the larval stage of another good bug called a lacewing. The adult may be green or brown, about one inch long with slightly longer delicate, lace-like wings.

These are just a couple of examples of how ‘good bugs’ help to control the bad bugs in our gardens. And, did you know that 60% of an earwig’s diet consists of aphids, spider mites, spittle bugs and similar evil doers? Next time you accuse an earwig of mischief in your garden, remember the good things it does.

What if I don’t have all these good bugs in my garden? Wait, and they will come.

Thanks to Ed Holm, Wegman’s Nursery