Summit County Master Gardeners

Want to see more fireflies in your yard? THEN YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO PUT IN THE WORK. I’m so irritated by people complaining about not seeing fireflies then telling me all the ways they’re actively preventing fireflies from thriving.

If you’re removing leaves and logs from your yard, you’re destroying habitat for firefly larvae. If you’re mowing your lawn frequently, you’re removing firefly perching sites. If you’re treating the garden for “pests” like snails and slugs, you’re ridding your yard of food for firefly larvae. If you keep that damn security light shining brightly into your (and your neighbor’s) yard, you’re interfering with firefly mating signals.

This is a photo of a firefly pupa. They glow as a warning sign to predators. This stage of life comes just before fireflies become adults. And it takes up to TWO YEARS to get to this point in their life. Fireflies spent 1-2 years as larvae in the soil and leaf litter feeding on soft-bodied bugs, before pupating and emerging as adults.

Many people manage their yards as pristine, w**d-free and pest-free monocultures of grass then complain about the lack of fireflies. PUT IN THE WORK to change that. ✨

At the beginning of July, which is the traditional timing for the British Hampton Court Flower Show, many perennial pants can be cut back severely after their first, early flush of flowers are done blooming. Perennials that react well to this technique include brunnera, delphinium, hardy geraniums, monarda, saliva and lungwort. The plants can be cut back by ½ or more (even nearly to the ground) and if conditions are right after this severe pruning, including a good amount of moisture, they will quickly regrow and some will flower again. The technique is not hard to perform using hedge trimmers and a willing partner to hold the foliage “ponytail-style” while the stems are cut. This is a quick and easy way to tidy up the appearance of these perennials for the second half of the season.

See some advice from the Royal Horticultural Society: https://www.rhs.org.uk/pruning/hampton-hack. Several types of trimming are described by UI Extension: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2023-06-06-3-ways-prune-perennials-longer-lasting-blooms and Penn State Extension: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2023-06-06-3-ways-prune-perennials-longer-lasting-blooms

Stormwater Myths vs. Facts!?🤔

❌Myth: "More fertilizer means a healthier lawn."

✅Fact: Excess fertilizer can wash into storm drains and nearby waterways, where it fuels harmful algae blooms, reduces oxygen in the water, and harms fish and wildlife.