Ok let me just say I am terrified of black widow spiders.. :o For some reason they are all around my pond rocks...Is this normal or am I being invaded by them???? Should I put something out to kill them or learn to live with them? If i sit something by the pond and go back the next day and move it they are under there...Another question? What is something good to put around the pond that will grow quickly for shade.. It is close to my patio so I need to think about tree roots...Is there a fast going tree that would work there..?? I am having to put a board over it right now so it won't get too hot and i just know when I move it there will be spiders under it...

I think you best bet would be to go to your local nurseries and see what ideas the master gardeners can come up with. Because you don't want a heavy root or poisonous...flowering and /or leaf drop would be up to your taste. But I'd go to a few nurseries and ask around. I have a magnolia...love the flowers ( petal drop is a pain ), seed pods look neat ( they drop everywhere...including your head <_< ), and great shade ( lots and lots of leaf drop in the fall ). In between the spurts of being a royal pain...we love 'my dads' tree. :D

Unless you have a skimmer set-up to catch the leaves I would go another route than a tree. Creating a lot of extra work for yourself down the road. JMO

Are you sure they are black widows? I don't remember hearing about them being so prolific. For your own saftey I would be sure.
Fm3

I'm with you on the spider thing. Hate them and all bugs at that. Way to make me do the peepee dance when I see bugs.

We have widows here in Northern Nevada and one way we can always tell that a web is a Black widow is their webs tend to get very dirty and filled with random debris. Most spiders keep their webs clean but widows are lazy and let everything collect in them.

I don't know of any bug killer that works cause that's the hubbys area, but I think we tend to use Malathion (sp?) around the house a few times a year just to keep all of the bugs in general away. We use a pump sprayer so the poison stays in the general area we want.
C

Yeah they are widows..Got the red spot...I spray them around the house when I see them but these are around my pond so don't want anything around it theat might hurt fish and things that drink from it...Someone said use vinger and water mix half and half...Don't know how vinger will effect the fish? what ya'll think???

Dianne,
We get lots of Black Widows here too. I've learned to wear gardening gloves when moving or touching things around the pond. I've been bit once by a Black Widow and it is not something I'd want to go through again.

I don't use any pesticides around the house, nor would I near the pond!! I think the fish would be especially sensitive to anything poisonous like that.

Is the peepee dance an offshoot of the willy dance? :lol:

PG

The lizards near our pond keep most of the spiders away .... but they can't get 'em all.

We had widows at our old place in the Okanagan. I am glad they aren't here. My very first willy dance was when I was 5 and it was performed in front of a giant spider crawling on the side of our house!

I would not spray any pesticides or potential toxins near the pond. It does seem rare to have so many spiders. Perhaps they are from a recent nest of babies. In that case, I would think they would disperse in time. Avoid getting vinegar in the pond as it will lower the pH if you get enough in. A little bit in a spray can is probably fine. When I get ants in the pond outlets, I spray them with Citrus Magic orange spray. It's all natural and smells good to me (my family can't stand it though). It kills bugs instantly but is otherwise harmless.
http://www.citrusmagic.com/cgi-bin/categor...XX-7&type=store but you can order it at other places.