Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 6, June 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Seattle Sun home and garden briefs

Dealing with tent caterpillars

The Puget Sound region has experienced an increase in recent years of Western tent caterpillars. Their unsightly nests cause damage to trees and shrubs; the creatures, also known as malacosoma californicum, hatch in the spring when new buds are forming and spin their webs on tree branches and shrubs.

The caterpillars are easy to recognizethey have a yellow checkered pattern with a blue dotted line down their backs, and can be three inches long. The caterpillars molt four times over a period of five or six weeks, then stop eating. They choose a place to spin a cocoon and lay their eggs, and moths emerge about two weeks later. The adult moths mate immediately, lay eggs, and die a few days later; the eggs winter over until spring, when the whole process begins again.

While the creatures are not harmful to people. Natural predators include such garden birds as Chickadees, Juncos, nuthatches, and bush tits, which eat the caterpillars. Other predators are wasps and ground beetles.

What to do: Seattle Parks and Recreation suggests that homeowners who see infestations on their property should watch the number of tents forming and monitor the leaf damage. Look for egg masses when planting leafless trees. Individual tents can be removed by pruning in the early morning and evening, when the temperature is cool and caterpillars are inside them (a pole pruner is useful for high branches). Put pruned nests in a bucket of soapy water or seal them in a plastic bag and crush it.

Other methods: hand-pick individual caterpillars and hand-strip egg masses and prune them out of plants during the winter.

Magnuson garden open house

The Magnuson Community Garden will be dedicated during an open house on Saturday, June 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Garden Amphitheater. The four-acre garden is a community project located in Sand Point/Magnuson Park adjacent to the Community Activity Center. The garden was built by neighborhood volunteers, in partnership with Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods and Department of Parks and Recreation. It includes an amphitheater, a children's garden, a native plant nursery, an orchard, a P-Patch, and a tranquil garden for people with special needs.

Park work party volunteers needed

Volunteers are needed for public park, garden and trail projects in North Seattle during the month of June.

Two events which will be held on Saturday, June 5, National Trails Day, are a trail-building project at Ravenna Park (call Jacabo Jiminez at 684-0598) and a wetlands restoration effort at Golden Gardens Park from 9 a.m. to noon (call Karen Luetjen at 297-7362).

Other projects, listed alphabetically by location, include:

· Baker Park work party: Saturday, June 12, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call Andrea Fastee at 783-6963.

· Carkeek Park trails restoration: Saturday, June 12 and Saturday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Call Cynthia Wilson at 781-2263.

· Crown Hill Glen work party: Sunday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call Joyce Ford at 789-1394.

· Licton Springs Park habitat restoration: Saturday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call Liz Kearns at 525-5243.

· Sand Point/Magnuson Community Garden planting: Saturday, June 5 and Saturday, June 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call Vajra Allan at 615-0510.

· University Playground work party: Saturday, June 26, time to be announced. Call Nancy Bocek at 632-7760.

· Wallingford Playfield work party: Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call Greg Flood at 632-7271.

· Waterway 19 work party (east of Gas Works Park): Saturday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call Cynthia Cantrill at 545-4401.

Lake City Farmers Market opens

The Lake City Farmers Market began its third season on Thursday, May 27. Located outdoors in the parking lot behind the Lake City Fire Station on the corner of NE 127th Street and 30th Avenue NE, the market will be held every Thursday through Oct. 14, from 3-7 p.m.

The market features over 30 different vendors selling items grown or made by local farms from all over Washington.

For more information, call the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance at 632-5234.