A Long Crawl Through Dirt Ok With Me

I’ve always contended that lots more people would enjoy gardening if they didn’t have to weed.

Still, there’s a certain pleasure that comes from crawling around in the dirt, uprooting those unwanted intruders. There’s a whole other world going on down there at ground level. You never know who you might meet eye to eye or what treasures you may unearth.

Take the other day, for instance. I was weeding the strawberry patch that had been neglected for a few weeks…or more. I am ashamed to admit it, but there were more than a couple of weeds in the patch.

The thick stems and leafy canopies of sow thistle and pigweed created a small forest towering over the strawberries.

As I cleared the timber, I uncovered a forest floor of ripe, red strawberries. Now that’s what I call a reward. For every fistful of weed I pulled, there was a fistful of juicy strawberries providing a tasty reward.

The world under my soiled knees was warm and damp. It was alive with worms, beetles, ants and a trillion tiny little creatures that I couldn’t even begin to describe.

As I tugged and pulled at the weeds, many of these little insects, particularly worms, were unearthed to the delight of robins perched above me. “Sorry old girls, you’re going to have to work for your dinner,” I said. “Worms are the workhorses of my soil, and I am not about to hand them over on a `mud’ platter. Now, if you’d like to dine on a few wireworms, cutworms or slugs, I am sure I can roust out a few.”

In my diggings, it’s not unusual to run across the copper-colored pupas of cutworms or late-blooming tomato hornworms. Though it would be better to destroy these pupas because of the damage the offspring will produce in the garden, I can’t. I find them fascinating.

Of the two, it’s the dark brown, hard-shell pupa of the hornworm that I take a bit of time to study. It’s about as large as a man’s thumb. When placed on the open palm of your hand, it moves, twitching back and forth. It’s alive. Soon it will break open, freeing a large sphinx moth, or what some call a hummingbird moth.

Only with your eye close to the ground can you take in the comings and goings of the resident ant colony or see for yourself that centipedes don’t walk around on a hundred legs or that millipedes don’t slither on a million.

Note the plant life - how the leaves of certain plants wilt down during the heat of the day and pop back as the temperatures cool. Or the tenacity of some obnoxious plant roots that refuse to let go of the ground. Abruptly, you find yourself sitting on your backside holding nothing but a stem and a handful of leaves.

The next time you head out to weed, don’t look at it as a dreaded chore. Instead, consider it an adventure, a safari into the backyard jungle.

Insect of the week

Watch the top of your spruce, Doug fir or true fir for signs of defoliation. The tussock moth is on the move. A colony of these beautiful little caterpillars can defoliate a large tree in short order.

The caterpillar is about 1-1/4-inch long, with four tan tussocks on its back and three hairy tufts that resemble antennae. The female moth is easy to spot since she doesn’t really fly. She resembles a wad of dirty cotton clinging to the underside of the needles. This mass of dirty cotton is her egg sack.

If you notice any defoliation of your trees, particularly at the top, contact a spray company at once. These caterpillars are voracious eaters. If you wish to spray your trees yourself, you can use Bt or Orthene.

Upcoming events

The Liberty Lake Garden and Pond Tour, will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. There will be 10 spectacular gardens and water features, all within five minutes of each other.

Tickets are $5; free for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased at the Pavilion Park during tour hours.

Take the Liberty Lake (296) exit off I-90. Go east on Appleway to Molter Road and turn right. Follow Molter Road one mile to Pavilion Park at the corner of Molter and County Vista Roads.

The Iris Society will host its annual iris sale Aug. 5 at Northwest Seed and Pet, 7302 N. Division. The sale begins at 9 a.m. and ends when the doors close at 6 or the rhizomes are gone, whichever comes first. This is an excellent time to dig and transplant irises and to add a few new ones to your collection.

The Associate Garden Clubs of Spokane will host their 15th annual yard and garden tour Aug. 6 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $5; free for children under 12. There will be eight gardens on the tour. Look in next Friday’s newspaper for more details.