Experts told about methods of dealing with dangerous pests and weeds

April is the best month for the destruction of pests of all stripes

The summer season has begun. In addition to the future harvest, summer residents are now also concerned about such important issues as the fight against harmful insects and plants.

An employee of the Faculty of Biology of the Bashkir State University Dim Akhmedyanov told how to protect yourself and your site from ticks and mosquitoes. According to him, there are no plants that repel these insects and it is necessary to deal with them in a targeted manner.

– Mosquitoes fly to the smell of sweat and warmth. But this does not mean that from the group of people sitting at the barbecue, those who have just taken a shower are out of the risk zone. So here the best way is to use repellents. But gazebos, verandas and houses will help to protect ultraviolet lamps. Mosquitoes also fly to the water, so it is better to cover pools and water tanks, the expert explained. – If the basement is flooded in an apartment building or there is a musty pond near the dacha, then it is necessary to use all methods of protection – mosquito bites “from there” can be dangerous.

For those who do not want to mess with “chemistry”, the expert advised using aroma oils: “Tea tree, geranium and basil oils will help especially well – mosquitoes cannot stand their smell.”

A special concern of summer residents is ticks. How to protect yourself from these bloodsuckers, the expert also said:

– When walking in the forest, people pay special attention to protecting their heads and necks with scarves and panama hats. And the legs are bare. Meanwhile, ticks usually live in grass and shrubs. And there is an opinion that they do not know how to crawl up. Therefore, the legs also do not need to be deprived of attention: closed shoes and no shorts.

In addition to insects, gardeners and harmful plants are worried. In many areas, the cheerful spring picture is overshadowed by barely protruding sprouts of Sosnowski’s hogweed. This plant has already managed to spoil the nerves of many gardeners. It grows at the speed of light and is quite dangerous if it comes into contact with the skin. But allergy sufferers do not need to contact them: the pungent smell of hogweed is a real misfortune for people with allergies. A gardener from Solnechnogorsk, Lyudmila Petrova, said that there are entire plantations of this weed around her new dacha. And the summer resident has already come out to fight the green parasite.

– We bought a dacha in February and didn’t even think about such “little things” as hogweed. It grows here, along the road we saw whole plantations of dry weed. But it turned out that it also grows near the house, behind the fence, – Lyudmila shared. – We are afraid that the seeds will fly to the site. Now we have covered the ground behind the fence with a dense black film. Because cow parsnip needs light, air and water. We covered the film with earth. But the procedure is long, the weed will die only after two years. The film thickness must be at least 100 µm. The method is effective, but one must be prepared for the “idle” of the land for two years.