Photo by Leonard John Matthews

When you think of Feng Shui, you mainly associate it with the home or the office, rearranging the furniture and surrounding yourself with objects that attract good luck. However it is not only indoors that can be designed using Feng Shui. You can also use it to create the perfect garden environment.

If a garden is part of your property, Feng Shui should be incorporated into it. That will really help to bring you the best results. We all like our gardens to look impressive and beautiful. It allows us to appreciate our environment a lot more and it helps to release positive energy that helps us flourish. Feng Shui gives us the tools needed to create the most positive outside environment and the best part is that you don’t need a huge garden to use Feng Shui arrangements.

Incorporating Feng Shui into the Garden

Photo by ViaMoi

One of the main factors that you have to take into account when it comes to Feng Shui is that clutter is always a bad thing. This also applies to the garden. If you have a lot of clutter outside of your doorway you won’t attract good energy. Make sure that the entrance to your home looks welcoming and tidy. Also make sure you clean up once Winter is gone. The cold weather and the snow will cause leaves to stick to your lawn and in your flower beds. Once you have tidied everything away, you can truly start to incorporate Feng Shui into the garden.

If you want to plant trees in your garden, aim to plant them at the sides and around the back of your garden. Don’t plant them too close to your home as, although they are fantastic producers of positive energy, they can overshadow the home and look a little too imposing if placed too close. There should always be plenty of natural light shining into your home, so don’t place anything in the garden that will block out the light.

Photo by tassiesim
To draw positive energy into your garden, it’s a good idea to attract birds and butterflies. You can do this by providing a birdbath and plants that attract butterflies. These animals tend to bring positive energy with them, which will help you in your Feng Shui garden goal.
Also apply the Ba Gua to your garden. A lemon or orange tree in the Wealth Area is fabulous to attract prosperity to your life. A fountain or pond is also an amazing thing to have in your garden or front lawn to the left of your front door. Also make sure that you don’t have a tree directly in front of your front door or this will block the entrance of energy to your house.

If you like cacti, never have them inside your home. Instead, try to put them outside the windows, where they will act as protectors of the home.

Statues are also a wonderful addition to your garden, but if you are single, try not to use a statue depicting a single person, try to use pairs of things. Such a statue would do wonders in your Love and Relationships Area. A statue of children playing in your Children and Creativity Area is another option.

Finally, remember that water is the “blood” of your home. Make sure there are no leaks in your sprinklers
or anywhere else, since this will be draining your wealth.
If you live in an apartment and you don’t have a garden, but you have a balcony, make sure you don’t use it as a storage area. Apply all the same principles only at a smaller scale.

The idea is to make your garden, or balcony, as peaceful and relaxing as possible. You can spend months creating the perfect home using Feng Shui techniques. However, if that area isn’t arranged properly, you might be wasting all the efforts that you made inside the home.

Once you have created a nice peaceful garden setting, you will find that it really helps to rejuvenate the mind as well as the body and nothing but good energy will come into your home.

If you want to read more about Feng Shui and find more useful information, visit me at http://www.lifewithfengshui.com

About the Author

Rebeca has been interested in animals and Feng Shui for many years and now she want’s to share her knowledge of these subjects with people in a very light and personal way. Feng Shui has improved her life in many ways, and her cats and dogs, and the fish that came as a part of her passion for Feng Shui, are now a very important part of her life, and she’s very happy to share her experiences with people.

This article is courtesy of  www.articlesbase.com

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Creating the Perfect Garden Using Feng Shui

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Photo by Thai Jasmine

Orchids are beautiful, exotic plants that are temperamental, but can be successfully grown indoors as a decorative houseplant Orchids are not that complicated and if you understand caring for orchids and their needs you can grow these exotic and beautiful plants

Orchids are beautiful, exotic plants that are temperamental, but can be successfully grown indoors as a decorative houseplant. Orchids are not that complicated and if you understand caring for orchids and their needs you can grow these exotic and beautiful plants.

One of the big mistakes the people make when caring for orchids is over watering their orchids. People assume that when their potting soil looks dry, they need to be watered. This is not true, as the potting bark may appear dry, the bark itself holds moisture. The rule of thumb is to water once a week or once every other week, sparingly. Orchids also need to be fertilized, also sparingly. Buy orchid fertilizer at your favorite greenhouse.

Orchids will thrive in your ordinary home environment if given the proper potting bark, right amount of water, proper amount of sunlight and fertilizer occasionally. Orchids usually grow on the trunks and branches of trees. This means that their roots are used to drying out before being given water again. When growing one of these plants in your home, you should let the potting bark dry out completely before watering.

The amount of light the orchid plant needs can vary. When caring for orchids they generally need a good deal of diffused light. Sitting in an eastern facing window will allow them to have the cooler morning light and prevent them from burning in strong afternoon sunlight. 12 hours of light a day is ideal, but sometimes not practical, because of very strong afternoon sun.

Getting a good routine in place for watering and fertilizing is a great way to guarantee that you will be able to enjoy these exotic plants for a long time.

There are four types of orchids:

1. Terrestrial Orchids, having their roots in soil.

2. Lithophytes, which grow in rocks or at least, very little soil.

3. Saprophytes, which get their nutrition from decaying or dead matter usually accessed on the forest floror.

4. Climbing Epiphytes, being found in trees with roots that cling to tree bark to absorb water and nutrients.

The Phalaenopsis orchid is a beautiful orchid commonly found in many well decorated homes. It is a perfect house plant for a warm environment heated with a dry central heating system. The blooms are round and come in many vibrant colors. the Phalaenopsis orchid usually blooms twice a year. There are normally four to five blooms on a single very long stem. They produce ”air” roots that drape over the sides of the pot and also take root in bark chips in the pot.

This type of orchid should be allowed to dry out thoroughly in its planting bark before watering. Usually water every two weeks. Run water into the planting pot and allow it to drain out the bottom of the planting pot. Fertilize at watering time two or three times a year.

Phalaenopsis should be repotted every two years. This should be done in the spring after the plant has blossomed. Medium-grade fir bark works best when growing these orchids in a medium sized pot.

Over 26,500 species of orchids exist. Over 100,200 hybrid species have been bred.

It is a good idea to read up on the care required for your particular orchid species. With proper nurturing these exotic beauties can really add style to your home.

Growing orchids can be done with patience and by giving tender loving care. Please visit us at Caring For Orchids for more free information on raising orchids. This article was written by Jan Hartman.

Copyright (c) 2009 Free Online Library

Originally posted 2010-01-26 14:46:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Caring For Orchids

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Well, it’s that time of year again and fall is upon us. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m done gardening yet and I reply that no in fact things are getting pretty busy in the garden business right now. Believe it or not, I’m so busy right now that I threw out my back yesterday and spent the evening eating ibuprofen…ugh. And spent the morning with my chiropractor! And yes, I’m back in action!

Garden work picks up in the fall because it is the best time split overgrown plants and move them to fill in an empty spot-or perhaps rearrange some plants that were not “working” well together. “Obsessive” gardeners(like me)are never done in the garden. We are constantly looking for the perfect plant combinations that will work well together from spring all the way to fall. One plant can not do this-that would be boring! We tend to think about seasonal combinations of plants. And fall is the best time to think back about what worked well together and what did not…and split and move and maybe put something new in. Since all your other crazy gardener friends are splitting as well, they probably have some weird plants to give you that you won’t be able to resist putting in your garden…which you will have to wait until next year to see if it looks good or not…and the cycle is ever continuing…hence the term “Crazy as a Gardener!” I think I just made that up.

Since you are digging around in the garden anyway it is also the best time to get some bulbs and put those in the ground. I always like to plant bulbs in groups of at least 5…otherwise you just end up with a lonely tulip here and a lonely daffodil there. They just look straggle-ish that way…you won’t get a lot of compliments, trust me. It will look more like you hired a squirrel to do your garden maintenance. Which they will in fact do for free. In fact squirrels and chipmunks will rearrange your bulbs weather you ask them to or not. Gotta love ‘em for being such hard workers. Heck sometimes I do the same thing myself to my neighbors yard…shhhhhh…don’t tell anyone.

Once I’ve finished all that dirty work it’s usually time to look around and start cutting down some of the plants. So I break out my bi-pass clippers, big green tarp, and my rake and get busy cutting down most everything. I don’t cut it all the way to ground, though. I leave about 1/3^rd of the plant to provide winter protection. It just seems cruel to take all the clothes away for winter. I realize that the slugs and fungus can overwinter in this left behind debris, so usually I try to remove diseased debris completely. BTW-this was kind of a weird year for peonies…did anyone notice?I noticed some strange wilt issues early in the summer and I’m sort of ignoring it for the moment.

After I clear out the beds-NOT touching the roses-although I hear it is a good time to apply fungicide-I will rake up excess leaves out of the beds or blow leaves off the beds and into the lawn and then mulch them with the mower. The days of raking every leaf and sending it to god knows where are over. Today the savvy gardener blows them into the yard for the lawn guys to mulch, or just mows’em themselves.

Also, if you have a pond, you really do not want to let leaves fall into it and rot. You need to get those leaves raked up and also pull them out of the pond as best as possible-or you’ll be sorry.

Fall is also a busy time to look around and see what branches and shrubs will need to be pruned in February-Ha ha-that is soooo funny! As if I am going to wander around in 0 degree weather!

It is also a time when you look around and see that you don’t have enough fall interest shrubs and plants in your garden. Note to self for next year!

And you start to feel a little sad about the end of the garden, but a little happy at the same time because you will finally have some time to clean out your basement and maybe do some art work, or organize family pictures, or write someone a letter-do people even do that anymore??

GartenGrl

Originally posted 2009-10-27 13:25:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Garden Note to Self:

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Birds can be an important addition to any landscape. Selecting the best ornamental plants that help improve the habitat of your back yard should be chosen for features that provide birds with food and shelter.

Viburnums provide excellent food and shelter for bird habitats.

Viburnums are attractive, versatile, adaptable shrubs for any landscape in which you want to improve your bird habitat.. They can be used as hedges or screens and in mixed perennial and shrub borders. They can stand alone as specimen plants or in clusters. They usually take the form of shrubs, but some species can become small ornamental trees. They range in size from the Dwarf American Cranberry at 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide, to the Siebold at over 15 feet tall.

Viburnums are plants with year round interest. All Viburnums have profuse white to pink flowers in the spring. They have large, attractive and often textured leaves. Some viburnums have wonderfully fragrant flowers that are produced in snowball sized clusters in spring. Their flower clusters can consist of pink buds, which develop into white flowers. Some fruits are red and turn black with age. Leaves are glossy, dark green and turn a burgundy color in the fall. Midsummer berries are an important food source for birds. The cranberry viburnum is noteworthy in that it bears fruit in the fall but ripens late in winter. Viburnums have colorful red to purple leaves. Some viburnums can become medium sized trees, especially if they are pruned. Viburnums excel as specimen plants or as anchors in mixed borders which your birds will love. You won’t find a more versatile group of shrubs for hedges or for massing in groups, since viburnums hold their own in every season givig year round intrest. Some viburnums, such as Prague viburnum ‘Pragense’, are evergreen. Others, such as leatherleaf viburnum, are semi-evergreen in colder climates, losing their leaves when temperatures dip below 10 degrees. Most viburnums grow in clusters or colonies. These colonies form thickets that are unsurpassed as cover for birds. I have seen how this has protected birds in our backyard from attacking hawks that were unable to fly into the viburnum shelter that birds escape to.

The best feature of Viburnums is their adaptability. While they would prefer full sun and moderately watered, well-drained rich soils, they will grow very well in part shade in alkaline, clay soils. Diseases and pests rarely attack them. My kids have run over them with brush hogs and they survived. Their fibrous root system makes them transplant easily.

Viburnums have long been popular garden plants, known for their white, often fragrant spring flowers and their delightful fall color. But it’s the Asian viburnums that have so far taken first prize. Perhaps the most widely known viburnums are the Burkwood viburnum (Viburnum x burkwoodii), and the Korean spice viburnum (V. carlesii), both of which fill the air with an enchanting clovelike oders in mid-spring. Also popular is the doublefile viburnum (V. plicatum f. tomentosum), valued for its layered habit, fall foliage, and clusters of red fruits. Viburnum acerifolium (Maple-leafed viburnum) Although I wouldn’t garden without any of these, I have a special fondness for several of our native viburnums. They may not provide the flower fragrance of their Asian cousins, but I love them nonetheless for their brilliant fall foliage color but also for their abundant fruit displays, which attract wildlife to my garden in the fall and winter months. In addition, several are useful to today’s waterwise gardeners or in tough urban conditions. They require only corrective pruning, and none commonly suffer from pests or diseases.

Viburnums are considered moist woodland plants. In nature they are found along steam banks from Long Island to Florida. When you come to our 5275 West Swamp Rd. location ask us to show some in their native habitat that we found along our stream bank. These plants perform well under normal landscape conditions. I especially like the floral display in the spring and these viburnums that bear fruit in the fall. Winterthur has great red leaves and abundant fruit in the fall. This cultivar needs a cross pollinator such as viburnum nudum.

Native Americans used Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum) for arrow shafts. There stems are long and strait. This plant will grow in places many plants struggle. So if you have had trouble with plants in a harsh location try a viburnum.

Viburnums

We raise over 10 types of Viburnums on our farms from seedlings to 5′ shrubs. If you have poor soils due to compacting from construction, try viburnums. Being rugged and hardy, they perform where other plants fail.

American Cranberry Bush

KoreanSpice

Blackhaw

ArrowwoodViburnum

Chicago Luster (we have 500 3-6′ that must be sold by Sept 28 2005)

Dawn

Summer Snowflake

Shasta

Winterthur

Blue Muffin

Burkwood

Erie

Tea

If you are searching for a good-looking hardy shrub which will attract and feed birds consider one of the many members of the Viburnum family.

The food for birds should be available from trees and shrubs in the landscape. Natural food sources are best. Try to copy the native sources that will provide food as is needed by native bird populations. Plants should provide an available food supply all-year-round. Native trees and shrubs native to your area ensures that fruits and berries are available for the local bird population.

Whenever you select a plant for bird habitat improvement try to maintain a balance of 20-25% evergreens. The evergreen can be broadleafed such as holly or in the cedar family such as the eastern red cedars. Multi stemmed plants are best as they will prove better shelter. Following these simple tips will increase your birding enjoyment.

You can see other articles written by Bill Hirst about trees, plants, and shrubs at http://www.zone5trees.com

Bird Photo courtesy of Leapfrog on Flickr
Plant Photo courtesy of IRETH142 on Flickr
Article courtesy of article city

Originally posted 2009-06-05 07:15:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Climatic variations across regions alter architectural demands for shelter, warmth, cooling and the relationship of indoor and outdoor living spaces. In designing any structure it is imperative that its context be embraced and that both current climatic conditions and those which may be experienced during the life span of the structure are factored into the design. A structure which ignores its climatic context risks undermining functionality and sustainability.

Michael Sandberg of Sandberg Schoffel Architects comments that environmental considerations and sustainability issues are “tremendously important” for both local and international architects and landscape designers. Mr Sandberg adds that, in architectural design, “climate has always been a major factor” however it is only now, given the recent drought and associated climate extremes experienced in Australia, that it is becoming a much more public discussion.

Architect James Russell agrees that it has always been important to consider climate to ensure a design is “interactive with its surroundings” however client awareness is only now growing with people becoming more receptive to producing buildings that have a low impact on the environment.

Countries with extreme climates are further advanced in producing and designing environmentally friendly architecture. Mr Sandberg describes Scandinavian countries as having fewer natural resources and therefore are further ahead in terms of environmental and climate responsive architecture.

Due to a warm climate and ample natural resources, in the past “Australia has lagged behind” other nations in terms of climate responsive
architecture Mr Sandberg comments. Little need for insulation, warmth conservation and water proofing meant Australian architects made fewer climatic considerations in design.

Now that the Australian climate has become more extreme there is a greater sense within both the design and broader communities that climate responsive architecture and design is an imperative. Long term rainfall deficiencies across southern and eastern Australia have now led to greater scrutiny and emphasis being placed on water saving design features in residential and commercial properties.

Government restrictions on water use and the promotion of energy efficiency are increasing public awareness of environmental sustainability. Homeowners and commercial organisations alike are being forced to consider the environment in the everyday running of their home or business. According to Mr Sandberg the impact on building design has been an increased focus on water retention, energy efficiency and the use of recyclable and natural materials. Specifically, the use of grey water and installation of water tanks and catchment areas are increasingly being incorporated into Australian architectural design.

The award winning Szencorp Building in Albert Rd, South Melbourne was designed with climate change and weather cycles in mind and represents the latest local environmental solutions in building development. The outdated 1980’s era Szencorp Building was redesigned in 2005 to become the greenest office building in Australia with a six star green rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

The building was designed to feature a grey water and rain harvesting system, solar hot water system, lighting control sensors and many other environmentally sustainable design features as part of the buildings architecture.

Peter Szental, principal of The Szencorp Group, believes one of the key directions for climate and environment responsive designs both in Australia and on a global scale is through energy efficiency. “The simplest and most cost effective way of cutting our greenhouse gas emissions is energy efficiency. Often overlooked, energy efficiency can dramatically reduce emissions and significantly reduce energy costs.”

While the design trend for new buildings is to become greener, Peter Szental believes architects and landscape designers also need to target existing buildings as an overwhelming majority of commercial buildings in Australia are inefficient and continue to use far more resources than they need. “Australia’s delay in adjusting for the future is creating barriers to cleaner energy and consigning our growing greenhouse liabilities to future generations – a liability to deal with when times may not be so buoyant.”

Local designers can play a vital role in making our living and working spaces more environmentally sensitive by accommodating for “a mix of energies – including cleaner coal, but also biomass, solar, wind, hydro,’ within their work, as well as the government providing further ‘incentives to improve energy efficiency”.

The global design community is responding to climate change. On 18 June 2007 during the International Presidents’ Forum at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2007 National Convention in San Antonio, 16 presidents of national and international architectural associations united to address the role of design in response to global climate change. Importantly, the forum attendees, leading architects from all over the world, all agreed to adopt international goals and benchmarks for sustainability in architectural building design.

Karen Vosjan is the owner & operator of Domain Design, Australia’s leading image driven portal featuring leading Architects and Designers, and showcasing their projects, and capabilities.For more details,visit:www.domaindesign.com.au

Article Source: http://articlecrux.com

Originally posted 2009-04-04 23:08:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Climate: A Design Imperative

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Don’t plant Rododendrums in a sunny spot that is solid clay. They just won’t really grow well. They would be happier under some pine trees in some nice acidic and loamy soil.

Got a spot that is smoking hot and dry? Don’t try to plant a rose garden there…unless you want it to look terrible. Try some Sedum, Cone Flower, Oriental Lillies, Butterfly Weed, Ornamental Grass and maybe a double knock-out rose might be O.K. if you get it some water a few times a week. They kind of thrive on neglect.

A little research goes a long ways to creating a successful and thriving garden.

Visit my other blog GartenGrl for some other ideas I have about gardening.

Originally posted 2009-03-29 17:13:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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The Right Plant in the Right Place

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Photo by UGArdener

• Basic Brick Pathway: The first thing that comes into our mind before creating walkways or paths is bricks. Using bricks you can give any desired shape to your path. In simple words, using bricks you can create several paths such as winding, meandering as well as narrow.

What’s more interesting is that bricks are available in various patterns and designs. You may even choose whether you desire to set the path in concrete or sand. Almost all people prefer opting for a concrete base!

• Rock-edged Gravel Path: If you are planning to opt for a rock edged gravel path, then your first step lies in laying down a layer of permeable weed mat. Some even recommend that opting for a black plastic lining would be a good option! But it has been found that laying down a layer of black plastic prevents the free flow of water.

• Concrete Paver Walkway: Concrete pavers are available in various colors and patterns. They are reasonably priced and simple to install. Your first step lies in measuring a path that has a width of three feet (approximately). Ensure keeping the path at a safe distance from trees, bushes and hedges. Ensure installing a wooden edge along the pathway’s length. Ensure creating a smooth sand base within the wooden edge. Now check whether the concrete pavers are well fitted to their place or not.

• Crushed Stone Path: Opting for a stone path (crushed) is yet another ideal option if you are planning to create an inexpensive garden pathway. This is indeed a simple and cost effective procedure that goes well with any sort of landscape. Flexible edging helps in creating a curvy as well as a flowing garden path. Crushed stone path is a long lasting one! However you need to replenish it from time to time!

• Flagstone Paths: Flagstone paths are said to be one of the loveliest ways for grooming your garden. This kind of path matches well with any landscape design. The wide range of rock formations produces a perfect counterbalance for excessive geometric spaces. The only thing required on your part is to estimate the amount of square footage that the path will need.

Photo by Fyda

• Loose Fill Paths: In addition to going in for rock or concrete materials, you may even go in for loose filled paths. Soft materials like mulch, bark, crushed seashells or wood may give a beautiful touch to your garden. Remember the fact that if you’ll have to pay much less, if you purchase in bulk quantities. Ensure opting for proper edging if you are really interested in protecting the pathway from weeds. Use a shovel or rake for smooth out the chosen material.

• Platform Walkway: Platform walkways are an ideal way for eliminating any issues concerning edging, weeds or water. Platform walkways are constructed in the like manner as compared to a deck. Interestingly, these pathways come at a fairly reasonable price. – http://commerciallawncareequipment.com/lawncare-report.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_M._Free

Originally posted 2010-03-03 14:51:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Photo by greenhem

Hydrangeas come in a few different varieties. One type is called Hydrangea Arborescence which usually have big white snow balls on them-these hydrangeas bloom on “new” wood. Because Hydrangea Arborescence varieties bloom on “new” wood they can be pruned in the fall. They will produce new stalks in the spring which will bloom. The tree form hydrangeas you see which are also usually white are called Paniculata hydrangeas and they too should be pruned in the late Fall. Seems simple: white flowers, prune in fall.

It gets more complicated when you realize that there are other kinds of hydrangeas called Hydrangea Macrophyllas-these are the kind of hydrangeas that have pink or blue flowers. These bloom on “old” wood and can ONLY be pruned before July the year before…did I say this was tricky or what?There is also Oakleaf hydrangea which is also an “old” wood bloomer. So when would you prune it??That’s right-summer before….tell me about it…so confusing.

Photo by viZZZual.comSo now that you are totally afraid to touch your hydrangeas it’s time to tell you about what you can do to help your Macrophyllas bloom in the color you like…pink or blue. If you want blue you need to acidify the soil and add aluminum to the soil. You can use pine needles, throw down a bunch of pennies or rusty nails(yeah, my thought exactly). Good luck with that because changing the pH of your soil from alkaline to acid is a lot of hard work. If you want pink hydrangeas then a little more clay in the soil and a little less aluminum should work in your favor. Incidentally if you can’t get them to bloom in exactly the right color you were hoping for you can always put a few gazing globes on metal stands in the hydrangea bushes in blue or pink to get the color that way. Or you can tuck some garden decor peaking out of the plant to help bring out the color. It looks nice and gives you the color accent you are looking for without all the hard labor of transforming your soil pH.
If your hydrangeas are still looking kind of strung out it is likely that they are not getting the correct kind of light. They need partial shade. They will live in the sun, but they won’t look good in the sun. They will live in full shade, but they won’t look good in full shade. They specifically need morning sun and afternoon shade. And as the name suggests they do not do well in drought conditions so remember to water them regularly and they should grow so abundantly you can use them as a hedge to hide an unsightly air conditioning unit, or plant them around the base of a bird feeder to hide all the spent seeds.
These tips are meant to help you achieve all your hydrangea bloom dreams. Clearly it is of utmost importance to be armed with some information about what kind of hydrangea plant you are dealing with before you even touch your plant or the soil around it. Once you are armed with this insider knowledge you won’t be afraid to incorporate these lovely flowering shrubs into your garden because they are indeed glorious.

Originally posted 2010-02-19 09:42:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Photo by melolou

Photo by mbgrigby

Photo by Bitter Jeweler

Originally posted 2010-01-13 14:42:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Actually, they are not “true” lady bugs. They are “Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles.” The beetles are beneficial to the environment because they control aphids. And from what I’ve read, the multicolored lady beetles are much better at controlling aphids than the ‘real’ lady bugs.

How can you tell the difference between native lady bugs and the multicolored beetles? Lady bugs are bright red. The multicolored lady beetles come in shades of orange, from light to dark. They also have many variations of patterns of spots. Some have almost no spots at all, and some have many spots. When you look closely at the multicolored lady beetles, it doesn’t seem much of a stretch to say that no two are alike.

Unfortunately, on warm, sunny fall days, the swarms of lady beetles are so thick around my house that in the afternoon, I hesitate to even go outside to get the mail. The beetles land in my hair, crawl behind my glasses and work their way down the collar of my shirt.

Thousands of the bugs also find ways into my walk-out basement. I have swept them up by the snow-shovel-full (literally). My basement faces south, and the insects are attracted to light-colored structures with southern, sunny exposures that are on a hillside.

The beetles come in around the screen door upstairs, too, and the next thing you know,

I’ve got hundreds of them crawling on the walls and across the ceiling.

In the spring, when it warms up, the beetles emerge from their winter hiding places. Beginning in March, dozens of beetles crawl around my home office, the kitchen, the dining room, the basement and in other parts of the house, looking for a way to get outside.

Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles are not harmful when they are inside the house, although they can be annoying if present in significant numbers. It’s a little disconcerting to pick up your coffee cup and almost swallow a beetle that has landed in your coffee or is crawling around the rim of the cup. And two or three lady beetles landing in your bowl of soup can definitely make you lose you appetite. If you have company coming, you also don’t want guests to find lady beetles in their food or beverages.

Although the beetles are not necessarily harmful if they’re inside the house, when they swarm in the fall, they can create problems if they crawl into furnace vent pipes and plug them up. I have heard of them plugging attic vents, as well. And one woman reported to my husband (he is an Internet technician), that a lady bug crawled inside of her computer and shorted it out.

When the beetles are present in large numbers, you can also smell them. The odor is a little like burned rubber or hot asphalt. When the beetles are threatened, the odor is particularly strong. They apparently view being swept off the walls (or vacuumed off) as a threatening situation. Sometimes when threatened, the beetles ooze an orange liquid, as well. I have read that the liquid can stain walls and fabrics, although I have not yet seen any evidence of that around my own house.

Here are five ways that I’ve found to deal with lady bug infestations:

• Vacuum up the beetles with the vacuum cleaner attachment.

This may be somewhat time-consuming but it is a non-toxic and safe method to remove the bugs. As far as I’m concerned, time-consuming doesn’t seem so important when thousands of lady beetles are invading my house.

When vacuuming up large numbers of Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles, be sure that you don’t leave the attachment hose draped across the vacuum cleaner in preparation for the next vacuuming session, otherwise the beetles will soon find their way out of the vacuum bag and will be crawling around the house again. One woman from my hometown says she solves this problem by stuffing a paper towel into the end of the vacuum hose.

• Seal up cracks or spaces around doors and windows, if possible.

Sealing up cracks and spaces will make it more difficult for the beetles to get into the house in the first place. The beetles do not need much space to crawl through. Even a door that fits the frame quite well may still leave enough space to allow the beetles access to your house.

• Spray around door frames and window frames with a bug spray containing pyrethrins or permethrin.

I have discovered that the beetles will avoid crawling across bug spray with pyrethrins or permethrin, or if they do crawl across it, they die in a short while. I don’t particularly like to spray bug spray inside my house, but when it’s a matter of spraying or letting thousands of lady bugs into the house, spraying seems like the lesser of the two evils. I don’t like killing the beetles, either, and would just as soon “live and let live,” but I draw the line at a house-full of beetles.

• Use the garden hose to spray the beetles off the side of the house.

In the fall, when the beetles are crawling on the outside of my house by the hundreds of thousands (sometimes it’s almost difficult to see what color the house is because there are so many beetles), I take the garden hose and use the sprayer attachment to spray them off the side of the house. To make an impact, this must be done two or three times a day on days when the swarms are active. I have also used an attachment for the garden hose that allows me to spray a soap-and-water mixture on the house. I haven’t noticed that a soap solution is really any more effective at knocking the beetles off the house, although the exterior walls are cleaner when I’m finished!

• Learn to tolerate the Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles.

I keep telling myself that the Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles are swarming around my house because they are only trying to survive the winter — just like all living things try to survive.

In the insect world, the beetles are known as predators because they eat aphids and other plant pests. A few years from now, the beetles may be in a low cycle, and then, perhaps, I will wish there were more of them when the aphids begin attacking crops, gardens and flowering plants. (I still don’t want the beetles invading my house by the thousands, though.)

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Copyright 2004 LeAnn R.

Source: Articlecity.com

Originally posted 2009-09-05 13:39:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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5 Ways to Deal With Lady Bug Infestations

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