I thought about blogging the other day about how absolutely fabulous my yard smells. I didn't get around to it, but my next door neighbour's giant lilac bushes are in full bloom and it's like intoxication for the nasal senses when I step outside.
Or I should say, it WAS like nasal intoxication.
We took proactive steps to combat the tent caterpillars that have appeared in the cottonwood tree in the backyard and cherry tree in the front. They did not crawl there from other sources, they were hatched in those trees and started out a little tiny wigglers.
They are fast stripping my trees and growing larger by the hour. And once the leaves are gone from the said trees, I know the little critters are going to crawl down in search of a fresh source of leaves. And in doing so, will cover my house and deck with creepiness that makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.
Even though I have lived in Prince George for 37 years, and this area has had some wicked caterpillar cycles in the last couple of decades, I personally have never really experienced them on my own home. In the eight years we've been in town this is the first they have made it into my neighbourhood. And all those years out at the farm, people may have felt sorry for me living on five acres of sand in the muddy spring, but the caterpillars hated crossing the sand and it created a great natural barrier around our house and yard. (Although I had convinced myself and others that we were actually God's favourite and we lived in a special ring of protection)
It appears our status as God's favourite has expired and we have joined the ranks of other mere mortals.
It is time for action!
Using Google and other's experience, the best advice I could glean was Dawn with garlic and cinnamon. The Dawn kills them and I believe the garlic and cinnamon act as deterrents to keep them from invasion. Even though there are no critters on it, as a preventative measure, we sprayed the weeping birch (Which I call my tree from God because it stays green long after all other trees have turned colour and lost their leaves in the fall.)
I'm not sure what makes Dawn different from other dish soap, but it certainly has a reputation. Kinda makes you wonder how healthy it is to be cleaning the things you eat off of with it. And a visionary person would have bought shares in the company before Pinterest went rampant. Ah well, I digress.
I'm not sure what the neighbours thought when they saw my hubby up on the roof and on very tall ladders spraying the trees at 9pm. And I have no idea what they will think this morning when they step outside this morning with the heavy smell of garlic and cinnamon hanging over the neighbourhood. I'm sure they'll blame the pulpmill.
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