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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 13:01:33
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There are a heap of guys working on the driveway now but I will go down when I can and try and get a better pic. I had a couple of the dogs with me and was trying to keep them from going too close before so not the best of pics.
The kids were comparing stings all day yesterday... "mine is bigger than yours" type of thing  They reckoned they weren't sore anymore just swollen for an inch or two around the sting. I bet they will be itchy by tomorrow, whenever I get a wasp sting they usually get itchy a couple of days later
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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pitta
head gardener
Australia
1209 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 14:04:04
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I've tried to reply re wasps 3 times and every time I try to post it
does the disappearing act.
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
Gwen
Cooktown |
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pitta
head gardener
Australia
1209 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 14:06:49
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Finally it posted ok.All I was going to say was, get rid of the wasps . There will be thousand more
not too far away .Poor kids I know haw the stings hurt.
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
Gwen
Cooktown |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 14:11:24
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I agree. Get rid of that nest. There's plenty of bush out there without it endangering you and your family. Be careful if you knock it down - I am not sure that a hose spray will be enough for the wasps I dealt with here.
Lovely new planting possibilities beside that driveway. I have oodles of lomandra longifolia seeds on my plants - sent some more to Ota - but the question is when to pick up stem of seeds when the time is right - maybe the pantyhose trick is the answer. Would look lovely planted close together on either side as they wave in the breeze and are lovely and also stop some water flow to a certain degree. And are as tough as nails so no water needed if planted out of the heat of summer. Seeds are on the plants now.
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 16:08:34
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I'll wait and see what happens after the driveway is finished. My neighbour said he would spray them but I don't know when as he can be slow at doing things sometimes... The wasps may settle down or move on but could be weeks before they do. The safest time to knock the nest down is night time when they are quieter, will just wait and see what's happening first. The kids can't use the driveway until it is finished properly anyway and we will just have to drive down to check the mail and get the morning paper until then.
Pitta, you are right and there are thousands more wasps around. It is a very healthy balanced area (ecologically speaking) with a wide range of insects and birds so losing these few wasps isn't going to make a lot of difference. They will breed up again soon. I would leave them if it was safe to.
There will be a fence on the right side of the driveway as that is the horse's paddock (locked up over at the neighbours at the moment) but the left side of the driveway will just be going to waste... what a shame... just have to plant some trees there instead  We were thinking of filling it up with trees and shrubs just have to decide what sort... decisions, decisions Thanks for the offer Pamela but neither of us like lomandra much... it is alright for a couple of years but have seen too much of it when it gets big, old and ugly and cutting it back regularly makes it look worse. They are tough though as you say and never need watering.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
 Posted - 06/03/2009 : 08:24:54
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Here are a couple of closer photos though are a little blurry as I took them from the car... just have to remember next time when taking photos in an idling car that I shouldn't use the car as support to hold the camera still... the car vibrates a little too much  
I also gave the nest a quick squirt of spray to reduce the numbers a little and will go back this arvo or first thing in the morning and knock the nest down. The rest of the wasps will hopefully find a new home in a better position.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 08:32:03
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That is one big nest 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 16:42:38
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| rug up well gail! and be careful |
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Wasp problem