How To Keep Snakes Away From Your Home And Garden, According To Experts

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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.”

Not only is high humidity uncomfortable for you, it can actually cause serious damage to your home. Especially in the dog days of summer and long bouts of rainfall, humidity levels have been rising at an alarming level.

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.”

Fall armyworms (Spodotera frugiperda) are not a welcome visitor in the Southeast. They often appear in large numbers inlate summer to early fall and make the ground appear as if it’s moving as they devour every bit of vegetation in their paths. “They will march across your lawn, just like an army,” says Clint Waltz, PhD, turfgrass extension specialist at theUniversity of Georgia. “The adult moths are not a turf issue, but they lay eggs which become voracious caterpillars that can decimate a lawn and heavily damage certain types of turfgrasses.”

Outdoor spiders are hard at work, devouring home and garden pests such as ants, flies, mosquitoes, aphids, and thrips. It’s estimated they kill 400 to 800 million metric tons of prey worldwide annually.“They’re generalist feeders,” says Angela Chuang, a postdoctoral research associate at the Citrus Research and Education Center at the University of Florida. “If they can capture it and it’s small enough for them to handle safely, they’ll eat it.”

When summer's sweltering heat and humidity arrive, not everyone is blessed with the luxury of central air in their home. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep your home cool during the long summer days.

It turns out that you don’t need to do a full, down-to-the studs renovation to make your home stand out if you’re trying to sell it. Smaller projects and details can have a big impact, too, according to a new report by Thumbtack and Zillow. The home services website and real estate marketplace company partnered to find the top 10 no-demo renovation projects that can entice buyers. And the best part? All of these projects cost less than $5,000 on average (this depends on where you live, of course).

Extreme heat waves are stressful for almost every type of plant in your garden, from flowers and vegetables to shrubs and trees—but especially for container-grown plants.

Found everywhere on earth, this elegant flower is one of the most coveted houseplants for beauty. But how do you get started with orchids? Producing some of the tiniest seeds ever, that too mostly dormant, growing orchid seedlings is no walk in the park!

How to Propagate Dahlias from Seed