22 December 2009 by Robert.

Over the past four years, I have waged a continual battle against the bane of my existence – imported red fire ants. In this conflict, I have received numerous bites and have reached the conclusion that one of us must go. To this end, I have tried three separate commercial products to see which weapon will be the main tool in my arsenal of fire ant destruction.

Disclaimer: I am not a research scientist with unlimited funds. I am using only easily obtainable commercial products. And since I don’t receive any funding from any company, I will only talk about the active ingredient in these products.

The three active ingredients in fire ant bait which I used were Spinosad, Permethrin, and Hydramethylnon. For each, I followed the usage directions on the containers and judged the effectiveness of the ingredient by seeing how quickly the mounds disappeared when treating the individual mounds and, when broadcasting, how long the fire ants remained absent from my yard.

The first one I tried was Hydramethylnon. This product was effective in treating individual mounds within 72 hours. The broadcast method seemed to keep the ants away for only 2 to 2 ½ months. I continued this treatment for about 9 months total but was disappointed when the fire ant mounds kept returning.

The next test involved Spinosad. This product eliminated my mounds within 48 hours although I found that adding a bit more than recommended resulted in mounds dying out in as little as 24 hours. By broadcasting Spinosad over my yard, I was delighted to see no new mounds for 4 months and usually fewer mounds than before.

The last test I made using Permethrin. I hesitated to use this product since it also eliminates many other insects. However, it was advertised as a fire ant bait so I decided to give it a try. By adding this product to the fire ant mounds and watering it in well, I followed the directions explicitly. However, the fire ants either moved to a close-by location or seemed to be totally unaffected by the product. I broadcast the product over my yard and found it to be totally ineffective in fire ant control.

In summary, the Spinosad product performed the best for me. Although it’s initial cost is higher than the other two products, I found that I didn’t have to apply it as often.

Your results may be different than mine. But I will stay with Spinosad for now.

This review does not necessarily reflect the views of the Fort Bend County Master Gardeners, Inc., the Fort Bend County AgriLife Extension Office, nor the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

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6 November 2009 by Robert.

A few months ago, my wife and I visited the Tidewater area to attend a retirement ceremony. We had planned to have a few days to re-explore the area and treat ourselves to some time at the Zoo. But we weren’t expecting the Horticulture Gardens to be the highlight!

The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk has developed ten different themed gardens throughout the park that complement the animals in residence. They have a Butterfly Garden, Color Gardens, an Organic Rose Garden, an Ornamental Grass Garden, a Rain Garden, a Shade Garden, and a Tropical Garden. However, my wife and I were overwhelmed by three of them – the Herb Garden, the Virginia Barnyard Garden, and the African Village Garden.

At first, we didn’t realize that the Gardens were there. We were walking over to the African Savanna exhibit when we stumbled across their Herb Garden. A wonderfully refreshing smell of herbs was noticeable from 15 feet away. Each section was marked as to the use of the herbs (such as medicinal or culinary) and the herbs were identified by common and scientific names.

We then starting looking for more gardens to visit (alas, we soon forgot about the animals) and found several more. Eventually, we found the Virginia Barnyard Garden where we spoke with a zoo employee about it. She mentioned that the gardens were used to educate the public and to provide fresh provender for the animals. The garden changes frequently as the seasons change and fresh plantings are continuous.

The third garden that made an impression on us was the African Village Garden. All of the plantings here are familiar to all of us but have in common being originally from Africa.

We learned a lot visiting the Gardens in this zoo and since most of us have interest in this subject, I highly recommend a visit to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk – but you don’t even have to look at the animals!

To view more about these Gardens, visit http://www.virginiazoo.org/about-the-zoo/our-gardens.asp and see what they have done to improve their zoo!

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14 September 2009 by Robert.

During a recent trip to the Hampton Roads area, my wife and I decided to visit the Norfolk Botanical Garden for the afternoon. Being this was my first visit even though I lived in the area for nine years, I really didn’t know what to expect. Just let me say that I was very pleased.

The Garden consists of 155 acres and 12 miles of paths so don’t expect to see it all in one go. Especially since there are many hidden jewels throughout the area! There are more than 30 themed areas ranging from their Japanese Garden to the Hofheimer Camellia Garden to the WOW (World of Wonders) Children’s Garden. And be aware that the gardens change with the seasons!

You have different ways of seeing these different areas, too. I would recommend you take the boat trip that journeys through the waterways giving you a general look at the layout of the park with a guide who is both knowledgeable and friendly.

After the boat excursion, take the time and ride the guided land tour that takes you through the interior of the park. This way, you can see a lot of the plantings up close and will help you narrow your focus for later.

Then, you can start out on your own and walk the paths deep into the gardens.

The next time you are in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area, plan on spending at least a day at this wonderful place.

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