Hi,
I'm new to this group, but hope you guys can give suggestions. I moved
into my new house last May. It has medium-size yards with very large,
thick-trunked trees. I love the trees but they clearly need some trimming.
I've been meaning to get a tree doctor out to tend them, but - well,
summer's been super busy. I still plan to do that, but until then maybe I
can ask you guys some of the questions I plan to ask them.
The large tree in my front yard has ivy growing around it's base and up
it's trunk. I've heard that this is bad for trees, is that correct? Is it
possible to remove the ivy without killing the tree?
The other thing that's bothering me (and this one REALLY bothers me!) is
that my back yard is basically a mosquito hive. A person can walk out there
in shorts for only 5 minutes, and come back in looking like he's got chicken
pox. It's horrible, and since this is Lyme Disease country (northern VA),
it's a potentially serious problem.
There's never any standing water in my yard that I know of. I can't
tell for sure about my neighbors' yards, but I doubt they have standing
water either. It seems kind of like the bugs are living in the lawn. Could
they be living and breeding in the grass or just moist soil? What's the
best way to get rid of them?
I don't know if it helps diagnose, but these pesties are teensy, just a
little bit bigger than gnats. There are also a large number of biting flies
out there, that aren't mosquitos. Is it worth hiring a pest control service
to do periodic service on my yard? What would they do?

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Sharon, Lurking As Usual
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