By Carol Quish

Originally Published by the UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Some garden perennials were not so lucky this winter. If it appears the voles and chipmunks have been busy feeding and tunneling their way through parts of the garden, you will see heaved up tunnels in the lawn from moles. Fill in any tunnels. Mouse traps sent in the runs might work as a control measure. Cover the trap with an up-side-down bucket to keep out birds and cats.

There is still time to remove, crush and kill gypsy moth eggs from tree bark. Hope for a wet spring to develop the fungus that infects the young caterpillars after they hatch from any egg masses that were left.

While cleaning up garden debris, watch for beneficial insect overwintered eggs like the praying mantid’s egg case below. Carefully remove the stem and egg mass to a safe place outside so it can hatch naturally when the weather warms. Do NOT bring it into your home unless you want it to hatch inside your heated house!

Another spring chore can be done inside the home. Cut the top six inches off of leggy houseplants to give them a good pruning. Repot any that need it to get them ready for another year of growing. Stick some cuttings in a vase of water to get them to produce roots. Some plants do respond better than others and it is worth a try to produce new, free houseplants to share with friends.