can termites live in the dirt?
tomt...@well.com
fairly invested with termites. All the wood is now good - leaving a
10x20 foot dirt patch which will be my summer project.
My concern is the termites. Would they have all left with the wood, or
could there be more in the dirt? The dirt is very damp and obviously
has been in the shade. My house is stucco with wood awnings and the
last termite treatment was in 1999.
Thoughts???
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Thomas M. Bellanca E-mail:tomt...@well.com
1846 Blue Bonnet Place Web page: http://www.well.com/user/tomthumb/
Encinitas, CA 92024
"if god made anything better than pizza, he kept it for himself"
unknown
"...do you know what happened to the little boy who had
all his dreams come true? He lived happily ever after."
Willy Wonka
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Michael Strauch
> I removed my rotting redwood deck this weekend. As expected - it was
> fairly invested with termites. All the wood is now good - leaving a
> 10x20 foot dirt patch which will be my summer project.
> My concern is the termites. Would they have all left with the wood, or
> could there be more in the dirt? The dirt is very damp and obviously
> has been in the shade. My house is stucco with wood awnings and the
> last termite treatment was in 1999.
>
> Thoughts???
One of the common termites in the San Diego area is the subterrainean
termite, which lives in the soil, so yes, there most likely are more of
them left in the soil.
len brauer
the dirt is where their home is i'm afraid, their main nest will still
be somewhere in your area and still active. use steel in your
construction to minimise termite attack ie.,. instead of cementing
wood post directly into the ground cement steel stirrups into the
ground then bolt the wood to the steel stirrups which will be sitting
above ground level, much harder for termites that way.
here in australia termite protection should be re-done at least every
year and in active areas twice a year.
my thoughts
len
snipped
- -
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'
"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://hub.dataline.net.au/~gardnlen/
LarFlu
> I removed my rotting redwood deck this weekend. As expected - it was
> fairly invested with termites. All the wood is now good - leaving a
> 10x20 foot dirt patch which will be my summer project.
> My concern is the termites. Would they have all left with the wood, or
> could there be more in the dirt? The dirt is very damp and obviously
> has been in the shade. My house is stucco with wood awnings and the
> last termite treatment was in 1999.
>
> Thoughts???
>
feet in the ground. If you under any sort of protection with the company
that treated you home in 99 you may let them know you found termites next
to the home and would like an inspection to make sure all is ok. Though
with them treating the home, having them outside the treated zone close
to the house is common because the old liquid treatments are basically
only a shield between the colony under ground and the house. They don't
kill the colony.
--
Lar
tomt...@well.com
house? it is maybe 15 feet away.
should i have it professionally treated or is there a product i could
use? i don't want to 'kill' the dirt because i am planning on turning
the area into a garden.
--
len brauer
from their main nest, in pursuit of food.
if you have termite activity seek a proffessional and get opinions
from a number of differents system supporters.
LarFlu
> would/could the termites move from their colony in the ground to the
> house? it is maybe 15 feet away.
The colony will always be in the ground. They may eventually find there
way into your house at some point. The colony of the termites that were
in the deck may of been 10 feet under the deck or they may have 10 feet
under your neighbors deck and traveled 50 feet and found yours too.
>
> should i have it professionally treated or is there a product i could
> use? i don't want to 'kill' the dirt because i am planning on turning
> the area into a garden.
The products that you are able to get won't give you the same type of
protection of a professional treatment and some times can push them into
the areas where you wouldn't be able to properly treat yourself. The only
place you would need to have treated on the outside is next to the
foundation of the house and would guess your planting zone would be
outside the treated area.
>
>
--
Lar
Jeff Cochran
>house? it is maybe 15 feet away.
Termites will forage in ever increasing lengths until they find a
source of food. Even then they keep foraging. 50 feet is not
uncommon, so the answer is yes.
>should i have it professionally treated or is there a product i could
>use? i don't want to 'kill' the dirt because i am planning on turning
>the area into a garden.
Call your local pest control companies. Call several. Most have a
free inspection and will give you what your alternatives are. Voice
your concerns and they'll likely use just baits and no barrier
chemicals.
By the way, you're sure you had termites and not carpenter ants? Your
pest control company can tell you for sure.
Jeff