Q&A: From cockroaches to squash bugs

Roaches in mulch and groundhogs in a shed were two of the subjects brought up by gardeners who called me in recent days. Here are their questions as recorded in my voicemail.

Q. I am getting ready to put down some mulch that has been covered up for about a week, and I don’t know if it is cockroaches in the mulch or not, but that’s what it looks like. I’ve never seen such. They are a little more scattered than what I’ve seen in cockroaches. What should I do? B.T., Lynchburg
A. The roaches found in mulch are wood roaches. These harmless insects are not household pests. They live outdoors in things like dead trees and do not hurt garden plants.

Q. We have a groundhog living under our storage shed full of tools, and it has chewed a hole in the floor and is now up inside the shed. Do you know of anything they don’t like that we could put down? Not poison, just something to make them unhappy, to make them go away. P.K., Lynchburg
A. Although stores sell groundhog repellent, it is not likely to do any good. To protect your shed , you could get a dog suitable for hunting groundhogs. The other option is to trap the offender and euthanize him. No poisons are available and shooting groundhogs is not permitted in the city. The long-term solution is to prevent them from burrowing under your shed.

Q. I have a question about the Otto Luyken cherry laurels planted in my yard last spring. How often should I water them? Someone told me to do it twice a week. The soil is clay. M.J., Rustburg
A. Watering twice a week is needed only during the first week or two. After that, they will get by with one heavy watering once or twice a month if there is a layer of mulch over their roots.

Q. My question has to do with my squash that wilts and dies quite suddenly. I have discovered in the area of my squash a grayish insect. And I have also discovered what I take to be clusters of eggs on the leaves that are copper-colored that look like miniature BBs, which I have been removing with my fingers. I have also been handpicking and stomping the insects. But I am sure this is a losing game. So my question is assuming that this is the problem, what is an organic means of control? I prefer to do things organically, if at all possible. C.P., Lynchburg
A. You have described squash bug, a pest which causes early death of squash and pumpkin plants. Organic gardeners control it by spraying the undersides of leaves with neem oil, horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Spraying on a regular basis, combined with handpicking the bugs and their eggs, works about as well as treating the plants with a conventional insecticide such as Sevin.