Ben Oldag, a retired ag extension agent, was a long-time Am radio garden question answerer for many years, and he helped listeners like me a lot. He went to work for Cedarcide after being sponsored by them for a long time.I trusted their products both because of Ben's many words about their products, as well as some personal use. However, the dog/animal bug(flea) deterrent sprayed directly on a large, healthy dog caused him to eventually have a negative reaction. With the emulsifier making the product water soluble, any outdoor spray residue will just wash away during rain. The sweet aroma will too soon dissipate even when dry. The cedar may not be the silver bullet that effectively stops the vampire-like stinkers from enjoying your fruit. On the other hand, when strolling around checking your fruit, a handy bottle of blue ammonia glass cleaner will quickly destroy a herd of orange-colored juvenile leaf footed hoppers sitting together on a fruit. You can spray water after a minute if you want to rinse off the stinky blue poison. The mature l.f. hoppers take longer than 10 seconds to kill like the babies...more like a minute.

Thanks so much for the response, kimmsr. I know so little about the make up of droppings that I have no idea how safe or dangerous they may be. I do know that they eat right in to the paint on my deck, so at the very least, I want to contain the damage. It's a wood deck with slots, so hosing things down just washes the mess onto my neighbor's space. I don't think that's a good idea, especially since I don't (yet) know how dangerous the poop is. I'm still thinking the best way to go is to put a bunch of potted plants underneath and let them catch the droppings and break them down as fertilizer. Unfortunately, one of the Ceanothus bushes I planted that's right underneath isn't doing very well. I'm wondering if the acid or something else in the droppings is causing problems. I'm really in need of someone with expert knowledge of the properties of bird droppings. I'm not sure if I've come to the right place or not. I'd be grateful for any help people here can provide. Thanks again!

beng, Thanks for asking. We are currently at a bit over 1/2" from Isaac, but I'm not complaining. We also missed the higher winds, though the center passed within 20 miles or so of my home. Locally I have gotten lucky on about a weekly basis for the last several weeks. While rain is not up to drought breaking levels (still in a slow decline), nor soil replenishing levels etc, it has stabilized things for now. At least the number of dead/dormant mature trees seems to be holding steady. The rain I did get was slow and steady and every bit of it that hit the ground went into the ground. It will also give me a break from watering this weekend. I think I have had to water around my established trees every week but three,since late April. Some of the heavier rain was where it it's actually where conditions worse. Hopefully Isaac will continue to do some good. I'm sorry for all the people that were flooded, or had loses in some other way due to Isaac, but there will be a silver lining for some. Arktrees

Hi - I guess this discussion is still open to futher discuccsions? If so, I would like to say that for the past 2 years I did not know what was the matter with my white CM. I have 2 that where 1 foot tall when I planted them 16/17 years ago. I got them at home depot in South Alington as that is where I live. I read about home cures and they did not work. So I resorted to heavy duty sprays that worked for a while but the mist that fell on other scrubs killed them as well.. So I plunder on. After winter was over, and the first good day last Febuary, I got out the saw and cut my White CM back so far I hurt me to look at what I had did. I when to Home Depot and spoke to the a lady gardner as waus advised to use Bayer on everything incuding my Roses. Thus I have done. Roses are good now (had to cut back the climing one) and the CM are starting to push out the leaves and small branches. I walk out and inspect them almost every day since Febuary as well as the Roses and also my burr oak in the back yard as well as the two rose of sharons that have not bloomed once since I have had them, now 4 years, as the bug eat the new leave and the buds. I think now I have gone thru 2 bottles of Bayer. Only problem I have now it some little bug is eating new leaves on the rose brush's again, stripped them down to the vains and the branchs, I sprayed again last week before all the rain, and now I'm getting new leaves again. I'm new to all of this so the bug or scale on the cm seems like it kills every thing. Two familys on our neighborhood have cut down ther tall CM and did not treat them.. 2 others have cut down 15' foot tall trees in their yards. I'n not cutting down totaly if I can help it. Thanks you all for posting here. I had forgotten about this web site until tonight when I had to request help to log on agian. ....reb