Garden calendar
The usual windows, month by month
Each bar is when I most often get the call. A bar is not a promise that you'll have the pest, and the weather moves it a week or two either way.
House mice
Oct to Mar
Boxelder and stink bugs
Sep to Nov
Lady beetles on the walls
Oct to Nov
Cluster flies
Sep to Oct
Ants in the kitchen
Apr to Oct
Aphids
May to Jul
Slugs
Apr to Jun
Japanese beetles
Jun to Aug
Squash vine borers
Jun to Jul
Spider mites
Jul to Aug
Paper wasps and yellowjackets
Jun to Oct
Ticks
Apr to Nov
Mosquitoes
May to Sep
Dates are typical for southeast Michigan. Your own calendar is written after the first walk.
What to do now
Three jobs that change the whole year
Water in the morning
Wet leaves overnight feed slugs and mildew. A timer moved from evening to early morning solves more than most products.
Leave the blooms alone
Cut back spent plants after the flowers are over, not before. Pollinators work a garden until the last petal.
Check the gaps in the fall
A door sweep and a tube of sealant are cheaper than any treatment. I show you where to look on the fall walk.
Your own calendar
After the first walk, the calendar is yours.
I write the dates for your garden into a note: which beds to watch, when the first visit makes sense and which visits to skip. The same note records what was done, so next year starts from this one.
A note after every visit, by text or email
Dates you can move without a fee
A visit skipped when nothing needs doing
Not sure what you're looking at?
Text me a photo and where it was taken. I'll tell you what I think it is, and whether it needs a visit at all.