Bad neighbors = too many grasshoppers

[Armchairhomesteader]

I want to try to re-start a 40’ x 40’ garden area I used to have on a 3/4 acre property that I inherited from my uncle. There is a vacant lot on one side of me, and the house on the other is empty now because of foreclosure. The vacant lot doesn’t get mowed but 2 or 3 times a year, and the people who look after the foreclosure never cut the whole yard. So my property now has a grasshopper infestation that it has never had before- little brown and green ones that can’t jump any more than a foot off the ground.
I know that I can use nolo to kill the juvenile grasshoppers, but it won’t do anything for the adults that come from the neighbors’. So unless somebody here knows of something I haven’t heard about yet, my only option is to use a chemical pesticide. But, I certainly don’t want the expense of treating the entire 3/4 acre, and I’ll go without the garden before I have to use a chemical pesticide in my garden beds.
So does anyone know if treating the perimeter around the garden area would be enough to create a buffer to keep the grasshoppers out of the garden itself?

 

[so lucky]

chickens!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i'd say chickens too but that is because i enjoy having mine for bug control and they're just so cute to have around! the chicken antics are just so much fun to watch!

 

[Armchairhomesteader]

My city’s laws are so draconian that you have to take an animal care class to get a permit to own chickens. And then you can’t have more than 4 on your property- even with yards up to 1 1/2 acres.

 

[MontyJ]

I'm afraid the buffer idea is not going to work. Unless the chemical is very fast acting, they will just hop right through it unharmed. I also have a vacant lot next to me. I cut it myself, but also have the permission of the owner to garden there. The foreclosure property should be easier to handle, just complain to the mortgage company. If that doesn't work, complain to the city. If they are that strict about chickens, they should help with the uncut lawn problems.

 

[Armchairhomesteader]

The vacant lot is larger than my property, and I have arthritis so bad I have enough trouble keeping my own mowed. The yard was cited by the city last February for not being mowed and I lodged a complaint with the mortgage company last week. They were totally unaware that their yard service wasn’t cutting the whole yard. I’ll have to wait and see if anything gets done about it.
I have the same problems at home, a normal-sized city lot. One side is rental and mostly covered with lime rock and concrete patio, so its 15’ strip of grass gets mowed maybe twice a year and I have to complain to get that done (also have a major problem with the tenants’ pit bulls and an owner who wont’ put up a fence). The other side is empty because of foreclosure. It gets mowed OK, but it went so long without being mowed that it is nothing but weed and full of grasshoppers. My home yard is small enough I can use pesticide on the non-garden areas to stop the grasshoppers on everything but my corn. It acts like a magnet.

 

[baymule]

Welcome to TEG!! I wish I had grasshoppers for my chickens! Ummm... maybe sell fish bait? I don't know where you live, but I think I would take their stupid class and get permitted for some chickens. All that free chicken food, just going to waste......and they would tear up those grasshoppers! You could make a chicken moat around the garden, which is a fence around the garden, then a fence (chicken and varmit proof) around the fence. Anything that tries to dross the moat to get to the garden gets snapped up by the chickens!

 

[baymule]

sounds like you have a lousy neighbor to boot.

 

[ninnymary]

My city’s laws are so draconian that you have to take an animal care class to get a permit to own chickens. And then you can’t have more than 4 on your property- even with yards up to 1 1/2 acres.

What???? Where do you live? By the way, welcome to TEG! Glad you joined us. I live in concrete jungle and even here we can have 6 chickens. The coop has to be 20 feet from the nearest dwelling.

Mary

 

[so lucky]

I bet you are not the only person in your town who would like to have chickens. Laws are changing everywhere, with people speaking up. Maybe you could do something about getting the law changed. Four chickens are enough to keep my yard pretty grasshopper free, by the way.