Sevin, Carbaryl, is a very broad spectrum poison that will kill beneficial insects as well as the target insect, and has been so overused over time that many insects are developing immunities to that product and so it is no longer effective against them in some places. If the sharp spray of water, which does need to be repeated often and frequently, does not work (keep in mind that many people do not understand the life cycle of an aphid and will claim that sharp spray of water will not work because they know not) maybe, possibly you might need to move up the toxicity ladder to Neem products or pyrethrins which also are very broad spectrum poisons that will kill any insect, good, bad, or indifferent, they contact. Aphids will start to produce live young almost as soon as they are born, live, themselves so by the time you see any Aphids on your plants you could easily have 5, or more generations of Aphids there. Spraying those you see off your plants leaves a vacancy for the next generation to move in. Those you knock off are not smart enough to know where they came from and do not climb back up, they will however starve to death since they do not know where their food source is. So you knock some Aphids off today and tomorrow there are more that need to be knocked off, not the same ones you already did. Knock those off, keeping in mind the buggers have been producing more young that will appear in a bit for you to knock off. The best control for Aphids is however to be sure the soil your plants are growing in is a good and healthy soil that will produce strong and healthy plants that are better able to withstand insect pests. Plants that have a lot of insect pests on them are telling you there is a problem that needs to be addressed, and that most often involves the soil.

I actually went out and gathered 35 bags of leaves this fall. (Not a tree in my yard, the neighbors yes, but I can get them pre-bagged for free anywhere in the city!). Did the same thing last year out front so I know this works. #1--build raised bed--cheap lumber in a square 3'x8' (I'm short so 3' is better than the usual 4'Wide) #2--filled with a bale of straw--till 6-8" thick, add leaves, plus free compost from the city. Water well between each layer. #3--Then let it sit and compost for the winter. By spring it will be half as thick and ready to add just enough soil on top to plant the plants. My tomato plants were almost 7' tall--despite all the rains it drained very well and saved my garden. This year that vegetable garden will be flower beds (out front) and doing the same thing for raised beds out back--yep, 35 bags of oak leaves gone in a snap!!

I get them, too. Thousands of them. As stated above, they are no trouble in the lawn. Once decapitated, they don't come back. Try to pull them out of the garden beds before they get more than four or so leaves - they very quickly develop a root system and yanking them later, although easier, will disturb the soil around your plants. They will sprout in damp mulch but do come out very easily. I've even had them grow in just a tiny bit of guttercrud in the eavestroughs. These things seem endless but are usually conquered by end of June :)

I so wish the local animal control, or fish and game would come take care of the skunk I accidentally caught in my life trap (intended for cats that kill the yard birds). Anyway, I called local, state, fed. and they all said the same, "good luck." So this poor skunk is slowly starving/choking to death, because I'm cowardly and don't want to get sprayed or have the front yard stink for a month...so I have to find a way to deal with this! If the law, which I doubt, says I can't "relocate", then I'm left with killing the poor thing! This is going to haunt me in my nightmares! As for Kimmsr and her "well written" and well-researched input: state laws vary widely, it's best to call and find out if they'll help you before doing anything! If your state, like mine, won't help, here is a Youtube video that I think is the most humane I've seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9F16vTJXbk