The Ojai Garden

What comes before "Demonstration Garden for Fall planting."?

Could you fill in the missing text?

Thanks!

Volunteers mulched, weeded, and cleared beds Saturday, to ready the City's Ojai Community Demonstration Garden for Fall planting. All of the plants taken out were composted, and are destined to go back to the Earth to nourish next Spring's plants.

Thanks, Donna, for filling in the missing text.

Another question:

What was the worst pest problem you had this year at the Demo Garden?

How did you deal with it?

We don't have a lot of pest problems in the Demo Garden, because of a large variety of plants that support many different beneficial insects. Our worst pest this year is the same as last year — the pesky gopher. We often use buried chicken wire cages to protect new plants.

Some years back predatory snails were purchased and let loose into the Demo Garden's vegetable growing section to control the snail problem.

How are you dealing with snail populations these days? Hand picking? Saucers of beer? Copper stripping?

Well, we still have the descendants of those predatory snails in some beds. However, since they only eat very young snails, they are indiscriminate and can also eat beneficial insects, and, if there aren't enough insects around they eat plants as well, they are not necessarily the best solution. The volunteers mostly hand pick the snails (or share with them).

Where can I get more info on predatory snails?

Also, do you have preying mantis's in the Garden? Are they good guys?

The University of Florida has some good information on predatory snails at the following link.

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/gastro/snail_eating_snails.htm

The praying mantis eats many pests, but it eats beneficial insects, too.

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