Hello! I have a couple of questions! A mulch and firefly question, a spotted lanternfly question, and a Japanese Spirea question.
Ok, so ahead of o...
Knowledgebase
Mulch question #873727
Asked June 18, 2024, 11:03 PM EDT
Hello! I have a couple of questions! A mulch and firefly question, a spotted lanternfly question, and a Japanese Spirea question.
Ok, so ahead of our heatwave I asked my landscaper to add mulch to our (mostly native) garden, where I had left our leaves from last fall. He said he used an organic mulch but I didn’t see what it was. I don’t 100% trust this guy to know what is ecologically sound. He’s a good guy but I know he’s used to more traditional landscaping and he doesn’t have baywise training or anything. He added mulch this morning. Tonight when I went outside I didn’t see my usual swarms of fireflies so I’m worried. Did they get buried by the mulch? Did I just spend so much money on mulch to have it do more harm than good?? Yikes! Some of the plants that got mulch probably didn’t need it (and some that did need it didn’t get mulch).
I have seen a couple of spotted lantern fly nymphs around my garden in the last several days but so far haven’t been able to catch or kill any. No swarms but maybe two or three on a plant. How worried should I be? I plan to monitor them. What else should I do? One of the plants I saw three on the other day, then today I saw only one.
Lastly, I asked my landscaper to remove some Japanese spirea (age unknown). I have read that it can be difficult to remove and that it is recommended to use an herbicide in this case. He said he would get it out by the roots and it wouldn’t come back. I signed up for the Columbia shrub exchange program so I’m hoping that he got it. Is there anything else I should do there? Just monitor it? The spirea was tightly sandwiched between two golden mop plants which are still there.
Thank you so much for your wisdom!
Kory
Howard CountyMaryland
Expert Response
Hi,
We wouldn't think that the mulch application would have suppressed all of the lantern flies you are seeing. They must be sheltering in other locations like the grass, plants and up in trees. Did you go outside at a different time of night? That may have changed when you saw them or as many of them.
Make sure the landscaper didn't bury your plants too much.
The spotted lanternflies have received a lot of hype but overall they are not proving to be as detrimental as originally thought. (Visit the link for additional info.) You can try to squish them whenever you can but they are jumpy and can be difficult to catch. Plus with their high numbers, it won't make much of a difference. They mostly effect various fruit crops and grape and hop growers. The MDA is monitoring their populations and has even seen them fall in places they were high in seasons passed. So just let them be or squash to make yourself feel like you are helping. It is better not to use a pesticide to go after them as it will harm beneficial insects in the process.
For the spirea if you do have some root pieces left, they may resprout so just monitor the area and pull or dig what you can that is remaining.
