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Keep Mosquitos from Hatching in Your Garden Pond

Making It Grow Minute

  Hello Gardeners, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension. I have at times used a small plastic child's pool as a place for birds and insects to get water in my back yard vegetable and cut flower garden. It is not elegant but the dog didn't like it and I wanted to find a purpose for it. I added a large dead branch extending over the side as a bird perch and ladder for bees if they fell in the water. The nice thing was that when I went out of town for a couple of days, it held enough water to last until we returned. The downside was when I saw mosquito larvae, wiggle tails, dancing about. But that wonderful organic naturally occurring compound BT is formulated in donut shaped dunks that last all summer in a small pool and are completely safe for beneficial insects and other wildlife. You can find BT mosquito dunks in most garden centers.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.