Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Tuesday - February 05, 2013

From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Pests, Groundcovers
Title: Eliminating wood roaches from hardwood mulch from San Antonio TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

How can I eliminate the numerous wood roaches in my hardwood mulch that I get for free from the city of San Antonio?

ANSWER:

If you are getting wood roaches delivered with your free hardwood mulch, we think "free" may be too high a price.

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal, an article on Pests are price to pay for using wood mulch

We are gardeners, not entomologists, but we do recommend mulch quite frequently for gardens, so we will try to address this problem. We found several expert articles on the subject, hopefully one of them will give you the information you need.

eHow How to Kill Wood Roaches From that article:

Exterminators are usually not needed for wood roaches because they usually do not infect homes, and they only last for a few weeks out of the year.

Clemson University Understanding Cockroach Control From that article:

"Wood cockroaches are a group of minor cockroach pests. They are native to North America. Males are usually plain brown and 1 inch or less in length. Females are shorter and broader than males. Generally, females range in color from light to dark brown, with wings only half the length of the body or shorter. Males are good fliers and are often found around lights at night. Sometimes males fly into buildings. Outdoors, wood cockroaches are found in areas such as wood piles, mulch, and leaf litter. Indoors, wood cockroaches cannot survive very well and are seldom a problem."

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Tuesday - February 05, 2013

QUESTION:

ANSWER:

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