Plant Gardens 101

This article dispels the misconception that water features breed mosquitoes.

When I give presentations on water features, many people ask, “What about mosquitos?”

Given what they can carry, the concern is real and legitimate. The truth, however, is that there need be no fear of breeding mosquitos whatsoever, for any kind of water feature. Here’s why.

There are both biological and mechanical means for ensuring that not one mosquito breeds in your water feature. If the water is moving, as in a stream, a wall fountain, a tub garden with a fountain or a small pond with a waterfall, the mosquitos will not lay their eggs there. It’s a high risk situation for the larvae and newly hatched so they just don’t do it. (more…)

Between January and July 2007 the confirmed cases of human infection with the West Nile Virus have only been confined to the province however the past 60 days have seen cases of the virus reaching most areas of Canada. However, confirmed cases of the virus have been documented across the many parts of the United States including North Dakota, Michigan, New York and Florida.

Symptoms are usually mild and include fever, headache, body aches, sometimes skin rash and swollen lymph glands. Severe infection is marked by headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, with coma, tremors, convulsions, paralysis and occasionally death. If illness occurs, it usually happens within five to 15 days of being bitten by an infected mosquito. What are we doing as a society to stop this? The answer to that question is complex, the Canadian and US governments are monitoring birds and mosquitoes to prevent a major outbreak of the virus. Many states and provinces have implemented a mass spraying program in summer 2002 to control populations of the type of adult mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. (more…)