6 Plants That Attract Pests That You Should Get Rid Of Right Now

After a long winter, it's exciting to look forward to pulling out summer furniture when the weather warms up. But it can be disappointing when you pull out your outdoor items and they've been ruined by a rough winter and poor storage.

Got pests? Encourage native ladybugs to inhabit your garden instead of buying wild-harvested ladybugs to manage unwanted insects. Purchased ladybugs are expensive and potentially disease-carrying, threatening native bug species already living in your garden and the surrounding area. Your best bet is to attract and encourage native ladybugs to thrive and flourish, which will responsibly deter unwanted pests.

Mowing may be time consuming but is a critical part of maintaining a vigorous lawn. Healthy, well-managed grass not only looks better, but is more resilient to drought and other stresses. Proper mowing practices promote lush, dense turf by stimulating shoot and root growth. Lawn mowing encourages lateral shoot growth, resulting in a thicker lawn that is better able to combat weeds. These benefits are impacted by how often you mow the lawn. Mowing at regular intervals based on plant growth makes your ongoing maintenance faster and easier and ensures your lawn remains healthy and vibrant.

One day, your brassicas are swaying happily in the breeze, and the next, out of nowhere, you’ve been invaded by the worst—cabbage moths and worms! They sneak up on you, camouflaged and relentless. But before your harvest becomes a lost cause, here are ways to get rid of them!

We’ve all been here—when we casually step out to admire a bloom-filled garden in shorts and cuppa in hand, only to be ravaged by bloodthirsty mosquitoes! But this fear ends now! We give you plants that mosquitoes really hate—grow them and naturally repel these dreadful twilight monsters!

lovelypeace / Getty Images

If your lawn is looking a little sad or sparse this year, June bugs may be to blame. These beetles emerge from the soil in spring or early summer, earning the common name of May or June bugs. “June bugs are a type of scarab beetle, with several species found in the Southeast,” says Shimat V. Joseph, PhD, associate professor of turfgrass and ornamentals, department of entomology, at theUniversity of Georgia. “They release pheromones for mating so you’ll typically see them congregating on the side of a building, often near a light.”

If you have a large load of laundry you've been procrastinating on, I get it and let's be honest: we've all been there. But before you jump in, you may not realize some items that you should actually wash with cold water instead of hot water.

Chances are, if you have a lawn, you have crabgrass! This fast-growing weed thrives despite heat, humidity, or drought conditions. “It’s a prolific seed producer,” says Clint Waltz, PhD, turfgrass extension specialist at theUniversity of Georgia. “If you do nothing about it this year, expect a higher and more dense population of crabgrass next year.”

For our 2024 Idea House in the Kiawah River community on Johns Island, South Carolina, the natural surroundings proved a generous source of inspiration. This was especially true of the landscape design, notes Scott Parker, the project’s landscape architect and co-founder of Charleston-based DesignWorks. “One of the things that we wanted to do with the landscape and the garden design was really to ground it in the DNA of the Lowcountry,” he says. That meant tailoring their plant selections to mimic the maritime forest that covers parts of the property, as well as choosing more formal ones to reflect Charleston’s long-standing garden traditions.

Imagine sleeping on a bed that is too small or large for you to feel cozy and just perfect. It’s the same for bulbs. Planting them at the right depth is like giving them a cozy bed, just like Goldilocks! We show you the right way to do it and why you should follow it!

It might seem like a no-brainer what you can pour down a drain, but not every liquid or viscous substance is suitable for household plumbing for a variety of reasons. Some can congeal in and clog up drains while others can damage the pipes, resulting in costly plumbing repairs and replacements.