They only look scary (and they eat lots of bugs)
This is the web of a golden orbweaver spider. They like to hang out during the day under the leaves of large rose bushes. Debbie Arrington
Huge spider webs – each more than 6 feet across – block both ends of the path next to my raised beds. Similar silky masterpieces span rose bushes or go up into trees.
Between potted tomatoes, I walked into one web by accident, its fine silk quickly sticking to my clothes. I screamed when I saw its maker on my shoulder: A giant golden orbweaver.
(I managed to set it down gently on a different bush.)
This late summer, my garden has become a spider wonderland, and that’s a good thing. Spiders are natural pest control; they eat lots of bugs.
Many of them are golden orbweavers, capable of constructing webs as wide as double doors. I counted eight different orbweavers in my backyard in one morning. I don’t doubt they’re related.
Harmless to people, this particular variety is fond of large rose bushes, such as those growing all over my garden. I have more than a hundred in the ground.
“They like to hide out under leaves on the rose bush during the day,” explained Baldo Villegas, Sacramento’s Bug Man, when I asked him about these spiders a few years ago. “That’s where it’s nice and cool.”
The retired state entomologist has encountered many, many spiders. In Sacramento, we only need to worry about widows. They have a venomous bite.
“In the Sacramento area, the black widow spiders are the most dangerous as they are very common,” Villegas said. “Next would be the brown widows, but they are much less common.”
The widows tend to be found outdoors or in garages in dark, dry, seldom-disturbed places. Brown recluses and hobo spiders, two other species that can hurt people, are not found in California.
Villegas likes jumping spiders (his favorite), crab spiders, garden spiders and cellar spiders (a.k.a. daddy long legs). All of them have a productive job eliminating unwanted pests.
“All spiders are predaceous on other critters, especially insects, and they are considered beneficial critters of the garden,” Villegas explained. “Most all spiders in our area are harmless to humans or pets. The only problem is when the spiders are grabbed or trapped by human hands! Then is when they can bite.”
Master gardeners consider garden-variety spiders as beneficial insects.
“Spiders are mostly beneficial because they feed on pest insects,” say the UC IPM research notes. “However, many people think that all spiders are dangerous and aggressive. In California, the main spider capable of causing serious injury is the black widow, which generally remains outdoors and out of sight. Spiders seen out in the open during the day are unlikely to bite people. Focus pest management efforts on removing webs and hiding places. Pesticides are not generally recommended.”
I used to jump whenever I saw spiders. Now I admire them – and I watch where I walk.
For more on spiders: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/spiderscard.html.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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