What garden pest are you currently dealing with?

The deer are eating up the tomato plants

Small caterpillars of different species. Also bad year for insects like leafhoppers!

Aphids! Hate the little buggers!

Armadillos are digging up my beds nightly.

Japanese Beetles ... bah!! :-(

Japanese Beetles and Aphids here, although the JB have just about run their course for the season...but not before they set up camp in my roses.

Slugs, as always. My poor ligularias look like black lace.

I have a problem with squash bugs and grasshoppers. Even the chickens can't keep up with the grasshoppers.

Hate to say brown rats, but I have had to stop feeding the birds entirely, which has frustrated/saddened me, the birds, the squirrels, and the rats. (:>)

Japanese beetles and raccoons. Oh my!

Japanese beetles, deer, AND rabbits.

slugs the dreaded creepy crawlers. i thought I had them on the run then I started seeing little ones everywhere. I hope the sluggo works quickly

Too d#%n many transient grass hoppers. A couple of pounds of NOLO didn't slow them border jumpers one bit. They have eaten my butterfly bushes down to sticks for third year in a row. Butterfly bushs may be destined for the compost.

^&*($$^& gophers

I love my roses but the Japanese beetles love them more!

bunnies and earwigs...yuck!

The usual suspects, bunnies, jap beetles and slugs. Bunnies ate up all my new plantings. Aaarrrggghhh !!!

Japanese beetles, and I suspect moles or voles, because we now have some big brown patches in our yard. :(

Drought. Finally had about a 3-inch downpour two days ago, but that is the first real rain for months. Of course, drought-stressed plants (and hose water keeps 'em alive, but they do not thrive!) are susceptible to all kinds of bugs and disease -- too many to list, unfortunately!

Stinkbugs.

I gave my neighbor 28 tomato plants, which he promptly planted. He got a bumper crop of tomatoes. Now, he has a bumper crop of STINKBUGS. Good thing there's at least one house between us, and I've just ripped my vines to take cuttings for the fall. It's gonna be an all out war...!

All of the above plus rabbits eating everything. Blue Jays eating the buds of my roses and the opposums pulling potted plants out and eating the roots. And racoons getting in everything. Racoons do a nasty number on strawberry plants.

Slugs and Grasshoppers!

Squirrels are a problem year-round!

Aphids are more numerous this year.

The slugs seem to have disappeared, but I think that's because we now have a "frog pond" and there are lots of toads/frogs on patrol.

Japanese Beetles are here in small numbers.

Asiatic lily beetles have been worse than ever this year. They started in April, when lilies were barely coming up,. I've had a few brief reprieves after killing tons of them. Now they seem to be on theupswing again. I'm afraid I'm going to have cut way back on the number of lilies in my garden this fall. Just can't deal with them.
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Slugs. Apparently they're Spanish slugs. I blame it all on the Schengen Agreement. They can now come to Finland without needing passports.

Mealybugs, always mealybugs, though the real culprit is probably the ants that "farm" the mealybugs. I have even had mealybugs in the house, but no ants, thank goodness.

This message was edited Jul 12, 2011 10:52 AM

Neighbours' cats (6 of them) - cr@pping everywhere and killing off all the birds :-((

Resin

One good thing about the heat in Phoenix is that it keeps all of these pests away!

Rabbits in the garden plus discerning groundhogs nibbling my MG's and moonflowers. The only upside is I'm becoming a pretty good shot with the power spray setting on the hose lol!

Agree w/Nancy, however, I've been battling Western Grape Leaf Skeletonizer caterpillars; currently on my second invasion. Also had a real problem with caterpillars in my petunias.

Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits the most. Just a little damage from Japanese beetles this year. Occasionally the deer will forage.

No bad pest problems this year in terms of insects. I did have a problem earlier with some creepy green worms that were eating the leaves of my Aquilegia, but only in one bed. Occasionally I've had one plant or another that gets little holes or trails, but usually, if I wait it, out, they move on.

We have lots of Deer, Squirrels, Chipmunks & Bunnies . . .but I don't consider them to be pests. We love having them around and I find ways to limit the damage to their favorite plants . . .Liquid Fence is a staple of mine.

This message was edited Jul 13, 2011 11:25 AM

Grasshoppers!!!

My own German Shephard. I dig holes and put plants in the ground. He digs holes and puts bones, socks, and teddy bears in the ground.

With our drought, rats have been the bggest problem. They are looking for water and eat my plants for the moisture. We've put out poison and the dogs are getting a few, but they are still doing damage. Of course the dogs are also digging in the garen looking for some cool ground

Found a copperhead amongst my bush beans. Almost laid my hand on it.

Jap. beetles, deer, armadillos, rabbits, squirrels, stray cats, (looks like they would keep the squirrels and rabbits away) fire ants. Probably some more if I took time to think. Luciee {;^) Moxie, be careful when playing with snakes! Some are poisonous!! I'm glad you were not bitten! (tongue-in-cheek) But seriously, I'm glad you weren't bitten. Luciee

This message was edited Jul 13, 2011 4:00 PM

Thanks luciee! I caught it ti make sure I wasn't going to get bit by that one. I put on my leather work gloves, my big black wellies, grabbed 2 poles, one with a hook...and a big vintage 2 quart mason jar. I looked it up..definitely a copperhead..and venomous. It has been hanging around for about a month now. But, as much as we have to do around here, I like to know where these critters are. As much as possible.

Wow, what did you DO with it? You're pretty brave; not sure I would have tried catching a copperhead. I guess at least that way you aren't in fear every time you're out there, wondering when you are going to stumble across it again.