Crape Myrtle Bark Scale Infestation

(Joe Heim/The Washington Post) 

From Jamie Crist:

We have planted a number of crape myrtle trees over the years in our community and have enjoyed the beautiful blooms in the summer.  Unfortunately, they are under attack by crape myrtle bark scale.  This is a grayish-whitish bug that sucks the sap and nutrients from the tree.  They excrete honeydew, a sticky mess that attracts flies and bugs and can lead to a black fungal infection.

Treatments are available from local arborists and tree companies.  Remedies you can use at home are also available, though they can also affect other insects. Bonide All Season Horticultural & Dormant Spray Oil for Organic Gardening is available on Amazon.  This can be combined with a tree drench treatment that is mixed with water and poured around the tree in the spring.

Check out the recent Washington Post article for more information: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/21/crepe-myrtle-bark-scale-treatment/.
Other resources include: https://thegoodearthgarden.com/control-crapemyrtle-bark-scale/ and
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/crapemyrtle-bark-scale-new-problem-home-landscapes .

I have informed the county about the problem and am waiting to hear back to see if they would consider treating them.  Avoid further pruning at this time, as it can make the trees more vulnerable to infection.

Watch Erika Gonzalez's News4 report.

LWVPGC Annual Meeting June 10 at 10 a.m.

From  Gloria Johnson, LWVPGC President:

Greetings LWVPGC Leadership Team, Members and Friends,

 

The League of Women Voters of Prince George's County (LWVPGC) has invited all of our duly elected 11 Council members to make short presentations at our Annual Meeting on June 10 at 10 a.m.  We see this as an opportunity for the elected Council members and the electorate to interface in an informative atmosphere wherein the legislators can educate voters on the "State of the County."  We believe it would be a great opportunity to exchange ideas and get information about what has happened in the County, how existing laws have impacted each  District,  as well as where we are heading in terms of anticipated changes expected in proposed legislation.

 

So far, seven (7) elected Prince George's County Council Members have accepted our invitation to give a short presentation about the “state of the County in their District.” 

I have attached a flyer announcing the LWVPGC Annual Meeting and ask that you make an effort to disseminate it to friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, your HOAs and Civic Association.    LWVPGC was founded in 1921, We want YOU to join as we celebrate 102 years - as one of the oldest LWV local units in America. Let’s celebrate our legacy in this County!!

 

The Annual Meeting is June 10, 2023, at 10 a.m. at Woodmore Country Club, 12320 Pleasant Prospect, Mitchellville, MD 20721.  There will be a breakfast buffet offered at the cost of $40. [You can pay online at https://www.lwvpgcmd.org]

 

Our continual goal is to educate the electorate.  Please make an effort to attend and don’t forget to send the attached flyer to your HOA and Civic Association.

 

Gloria

 /s/

Gloria Johnson

LWVPGC President

PO Box 3033

Laurel, MD 20709

lwvpgc.copresident@aol.com

Passing of Joyce Ann Hawkins

Dear Neighbors and Friends.

We are sad to report the passing of our long-time neighbor, Joyce Ann Hawkins. Joyce passed away on March 16. She lived on Gleneagles Drive for 39 years and was a member of the Tanta-Cove Garden Club and was once a block captain. She also served on the PG County Historic Society Committee. Please keep Joyce in your thoughts and prayers.

From her Homegoing Celebration at the Open Heart Way of the Cross Church:

Joyce Ann Hawkins

September 24, 1941 – March 16, 2023

Joyce (Ables) Hawkins was born in Washington D.C. on September 24, 1941, to the late LaFate Ables and Gazelle Ables. She was the youngest of seven siblings. Preceding her in death are siblings Charles Brown, Shirley Parker, Juanita Tibbs, Gloria Bullock, and John Ables.

Joyce grew up in N.E. Washington D.C. on Hunt Place, around the corner from Tabernacle Baptist Church. It was in this church that she was saved, baptized,  and a member of the original Tabernacle Echoes Choir. This would later become a family funny about her music talent. Joyce graduated from Joel Elias Spingarn High School in 1954. After graduation, she was a waitress for one week and quickly found that this was not her ministry. The federal government employed her as a typist. She was then selected to work in the area that involved the newest technology, computers. Years later, she retired as a systems analyst GS15 for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At the age of sixteen, Joyce accompanied her sister-in-law Shirley Ables to a rehearsal where she met the pianist, Jim Hawkins. They would tell the story that he stole her squirrel nut candy, and it was love at first chew. They were married at Tabernacle Baptist Church on September 30, 1961. Jim called her Jo and later named her “First Lady”.  From their union came two daughters, Judith Aarian and Jacquelyn Annette. Later in life, Cynthia Nwachukwu became their goddaughter. Then Kimberly Moore came into her life, and with one serving of ham became her bonus daughter. 

Joyce was a faithful member and mother at BOLD Deliverance Ministries Incorporated. She was an entrepreneur selling purses, hand made cards, and book marks. Joyce was a licensed realtor, a published author of Overcomer: By the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of My Testimony. Joyce had a servant’s heart. She served as an usher and trustee at Guiding Light Refuge Baptist Church. From there, her desire for missions was shaped through a trip to Africa with Ebenezer A.M.E. As an ordained deaconess at Fort Foote Baptist Church, her desire for mission’s work was again fulfilled as a missionary and board advisor for Know the Truth International Ministries.

Joyce leaves to mourn her one brother, Franklin Ables, daughters, Judith A. Hawkins, Jacquelyn A. Hawkins, goddaughter Cynthia Nwchukwu, bonus daughter Kimberly Moore, and a host of bonus grand children, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Mosquitos Suck. Here's How to Make Your Own Mosquito Trap

 

From https://dcist.com/story/23/04/03/how-to-make-nontoxic-diy-mosquito-trap/

By Jacob Fenston, April 3, 2023

Summers in D.C. can be a little brutal — not just the heat and humidity, but the MOSQUITOS. After a very warm winter this year (January and February were both the third-warmest on record), this could shape up to be an unpleasant — and long — mosquito season.

You may be tempted to call a mosquito control company to spray your property. While this might make your backyard barbecue more comfortable, it’s not good for the environment: the insecticides used kill not just mosquitos, but whatever other insects happen to be there, like butterflies, ladybugs, and bumblebees.

“We as humans will not be on this earth for long if we kill all the insects. It’s that simple,” says author Douglas Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware.

Insects are essential to keeping ecosystems functioning, Tallamy explains. Insects pollinate plants — both in the wild and in agriculture — and they are themselves a major source or nutrition. Insects also break down organic matter when a plant or animal dies, returning nutrients to the soil.

Though mosquito fogging does kill a lot of bugs, it isn’t very effective at what it’s supposed to do, Tallamy says.

“You don’t control mosquitoes in the adult stage because you have to kill 90% of them for that to work. These fogging companies kill between 10% and 50%,” Tallamy says. “So your yard becomes a dead zone without controlling the thing you’re really trying to control.”

To fight mosquitos effectively, you need to interrupt their life cycle at the larval stage, he says. This can be done by setting a trap to attract female mosquitos, then killing their babies with the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, available in a product called Mosquito Dunks. People often use dunks to keep mosquitos from proliferating in decorative ponds, bird baths, rain barrels, or other standing water.

The bacteria only kill the larvae of mosquitos and other aquatic diptera, such as midges (small flies), but do not harm most insects or other animals.

To create our DIY mosquito trap, we’re going to intentionally create an ideal mosquito breeding ground.

What You’ll Need

• A 5-gallon bucket
• Straw, hay, dead leaves, or grass
• Some Mosquito Dunks
• Chicken wire or a mesh bucket lid (typically used in hydroponic growing)

Step 1: Lay The Trap

• Toss a few handfuls of straw, hay, dead leaves, or grass into the bucket, then fill the bucket up halfway with water. Cover the bucket with the mesh lid or wire, to keep pets and squirrels out. (H/t to Jill Spohn of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia for the mesh lid idea!)

Step 2: Let It Brew

• Put the bucket in a sunny spot for a few days to let the watery mixture fester. “That builds up populations of diatoms and algae — that’s what mosquito larvae eat,” says Tallamy. “That becomes an irresistible brew to ovipositing mosquitoes. The female mosquitoes in your yard will come lay their eggs in your bucket. Nothing’s going to out-compete that.”
• You can wait until you start seeing mosquito larvae in your bucket. Or just wait a few days.

Step 3: Dunk The Dunk

• Put a dunk in your bucket and put the lid back on.
• You’ll need to check your trap periodically to make sure it still has water in it and to check the status of the dunk. The dunks dissolve slowly over time, and should last 30 days, according to the manufacturer. Once the dunk is dissolved, you should add a new one to keep the trap going.

Step 4: Check For Other Standing Water

• Make sure you’re not providing other places for mosquitos to lay eggs: check your gutters, drains, sewers, planters, and anywhere else where water could build up. It only takes a tiny bit of water, and one mosquito can lay 100 eggs at a time. You can put dunks in any standing water you can’t get rid of (or use the smaller Mosquito Bits).

Step 5: Talk To Your Neighbors

• If your neighbor’s yard is filled with old tires collecting water, all your mosquito control efforts will be in vain.