Spring Time Emergence

As the weather warms up, you may start to see a return visit from those fall occasional invaders. These include "stink bugs" or western conifer seed bugs, and lady bugs, or the ladybird beetle. These insects do not infest a structure, they simply overwinter inside, emerging, sometimes on the wrong side, when the weather is warms up. Traditional integrated pest management (IPM) practices like tight screening and caulking exterior openings will reduce the amount of overwintering occasional invaders. If they are inside, simply vacuum them up, no pesticide application is necessary.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Think about winter moth now

If you had winter moth damage last year, or noticed large numbers of the male winter moths around your lights this past winter, think about protecting your favorite decidous trees now. To be most effective, treatment must be done as early in spring as possible. This is because the early stage winter moth caterpillar will bore into the foliar buds PRIOR to the trees leafing out, consuming young leaves or leaving them damaged as they unfurl.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Bugs and Beetles, In February

We have had some occasional warm days, that have led to the appearance inside of bugs and beetles that are more often associated with outside activity. For example, when temperatures got a little higher than 40 degrees F, western conifer seed bugs and asian ladybird beetles (the official bug of Massachusetts), both of which will overwinter in attics, came down into living spaces. The combination of heat and light for those overwintering in certain areas, triggered the movement toward what the insects thought was the outside, leading to emergence in a living space. For those outside insects, ending up in a living space provides no resources to enable reproduction, so simply vacuum up (a favored Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technique) the ones you see, they will not infest your structure.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Rats, Again

Boston area rats have been a little more prevalent in residential areas. Making sure that the sewer lines that enter the home have concrete or gravel around the pipe's entry point. Rats need an entry hole the size of a quarter and like to burrow in dirt. Gravel and / or cement will reduce the ability of rats to burrow.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Site Sanitation

Pest control is sanitation. Effective pest control, whether structural pest control, or ornamentals and shrubs is based on site sanitation. Keeping debris properly disposed of will dramatically reduce and control pest populations. For exterior pest control, including reducing issues that affect plant health, clean up all limbs, leaves and debris. Site sanitation will reduce the chance of plant disease. In addition, debris that are cleaned up reduce harborages for other pests, both rodents and insects that if left unchecked may multiply and cause problems inside.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Low Power Idea

The light bulb went off, literally, and opened up an opportunity to save power and keep the environment clean. The new GEO 3 bulb from C. Crane, or any LED bulb from Sun and Moon Ecolight in California will drop your power usage, and do it without adding mercury landfills like compact flourescents (CFL). With a great 5 year warranty and exceptionally low power usage, the initially higher cost of the bulb will be reduced by it's cost savings.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

In greater Boston the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid has caused a great deal of stress on the hemlock stands often used to divide properties. These hemlock hedges are showing the signs of stress from adelgid infestation that can lead to the death of the tree. The infestation is characterized by the woolly masses on the twigs at the base of the needles. Take care of your hemlocks with the low impact GreenHow Tree Injection service, putting material in the tree to protect the plant.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.