The How to Get Rid of Things Blog

I never gave slugs much thought until I was 15 and my dad moved from Minnesota to Oregon, where slugs are practically part of the culture. They’re hard to ignore, anyway, since they’re roughly the size of chipmunks and often leopard-spotted and/or bright yellow. But even in Minnesota, where slugs are usually only an inch or two long and boring brown or gray, the gooey little creatures cause all kinds of discomfort to gardeners who have to contend with their destructive eating habits. If you grow anything, whether it’s hostas or tomatoes, you’re probably interested in getting rid of slugs. And, lucky for you, there are lots of ways to do it. My latest article goes over several tried-and-true ways to get rid of slugs, and should help get you through the upcoming growing season.

If there is such a thing as an ugly tree, I’m quite certain that every opossum in the world has climbed it to the very top with the intent of throwing itself off the highest limb in order to hit every branch on the way down. It’s just the only explanation. And unfortunately, it has done them no good at all. In fact, their creepy looks are one of the prime reasons for people wanting to know how to get rid of possums. That and the fact that they have a tendency to eat things they aren’t supposed to and to get into places where they don’t belong. So even though they can be beneficial to gardeners in that they eat bugs, slugs and other things that might otherwise eat your garden, I can understand why someone might want to Get Rid of Opossum. And from that understanding comes this article.

I think my fear of ghosts took hold when I was a kid and spent a lot of nights at my grandparents’ Civil War-era farmhouse. There’s just nothing like an old house with a dank cellar, a seldom-used second story, picture-window views of dark fields, and a few volumes of ghost stories on the bookshelves to foster a fear of the unknown. It also didn’t help that my aunt told me the place was haunted.

In the end I never actually experienced anything convincingly ghost-like there or anywhere else, so I’ve been able to mostly convince myself that ghosts aren’t real. I hope I’m right, but if you think your house is haunted, I’ll probably believe you in spite of myself. I’ll also offer you tips for getting rid of a ghost. Because I know all about it, now that I’ve combed through several books and websites by paranormal researchers, looking for the best ways to get rid of a ghost. I put the most common suggestions in my latest article: check it out.

Like Amber’s recent article on Asian Beetles, this article is a little sequel to the ever popular “How to Get Rid of Beetles” article. Japanese Beetles are quickly spreading across the United States, from East to West, destroying gardens, trees, shrubs, hedges, and just about anything else that’s green. On top of the insatiable appetite of the adult Japanese Beetle, the Japanese Beetle grub is also a concern for homeowners with large lawns and people who have recently put down turf. The Japanese Beetle grub loves to eat the chewy, young roots of lawn grasses and turf. It’s like an all you can eat sushi bar down there when the grass is lush and conditions are right, turning your once beautiful lawn into a patchwork of dead and dying grasses.

Want to know how to get rid of Japanese Beetles? Well, you’ve come to the right place my friend.

An introduced species is rarely an entirely good thing, even if its introduction was intentional. When you take an animal or plant out of the habitat it evolved in and put it somewhere else, bad things usually happen, often to other species that live in the new habitat. Take, for example, Asian lady beetles, which were introduced intentionally in America to control aphids and other garden pests. Mostly they do their job, each one spending the summer snacking on thousands of aphids that would otherwise conspire to destroy crops. And then October comes, the weather cools down, and suddenly Asian beetles cluster en masse on and in our houses, looking for a warm place to spend the winter. This is one of those bad things introduced species do to other species around them. They annoy us. So if you have getting rid of Asian beetles on your mind, I understand. I also want to help; my new article, How to Get Rid of Asian Beetles, is full of tips for keeping these beneficial but pesky insects out of your personal space.

Sorry for any inconvenience, or the amateurish look of this blog at the moment, but we’re updating all blogs to Wordpress 2.5, which will take some time getting used to. Thank you for your patience.

-The Editor Monkeys

I love food. All kinds of food. Before I found out I have borderline high cholesterol, I rarely met a hot dog, cheese, ice cream, or pot roast I didn’t like. One of my favorite snacks as a kid was a slice of bread with butter on it. Yum. Butter. But now–thanks a lot, Dad, for the bad genes–I know my body makes more than enough cholesterol on its own, and any I add via my diet just wants to party on my arterial walls. Bad stuff. So for the past few years, I’ve been learning a lot about how to get rid of cholesterol. Now I’m passing my wisdom on to you. My latest article, on getting rid of cholesterol, covers everything from everyday lifestyle and dietary changes you can make to lower your cholesterol, to drugs you can ask your doctor about, to natural compounds that support your body’s efforts to keep cholesterol levels acceptable. Take a look.

Dizziness is one of the most common medical complaints, a symptom of many illnesses and experiences, and treated in a myriad of ways. Because of this, getting rid of dizziness, especially chronic and severe dizziness, can be complicated. There are a number of steps you can take to get rid of dizziness as it hits, and even build up your balance and focal strength to reduce feelings of dizziness in the future. If you’re experiencing severe and painful symptoms, however, the best thing you can do for your dizziness is see a doctor and get a better understanding of your dizziness and its possible causes. For more information, check out the new page on getting rid of dizziness.

I consider myself verrrry lucky to have never had a poison ivy rash. This may be because I’m woefully inadequate at identifying plants while I tromp around in the great Northwoods and manage to avoid the poison ivy by sheer dumb luck, or . . . I may just not be tromping around the woods enough. Poison ivy doesn’t just grow in the woods, though, and for those of you with poison ivy in your yards or gardens, it’s probably important that you get rid of the plants before you, your children, your friends, or your pets (wait, are animals allergic to poison ivy?) develop a rash. Getting rid of poison ivy requires a bit of work (you have to kill all parts of plant and remove all of the roots) and a lot of protection (cover your skin, your face, your mouth, etc.) but something tells me you’ll be glad you did it once all the poison ivy is gone for good.

As spring approaches and the snow melts and the little green things start to come out, those lucky people with yards and and gardens can start thinking about things like seeds and planting and watering and . . . getting rid of weeds. Whether or not you want to get rid of weeds depends a lot on your aesthetic landscaping perspective (like dandelions! I think they’re beautiful!), but weeds take a lot of forms and sometimes it’s just necessary to eliminate invasive grasses or poisonous plants to protect the rest of your yard or garden. For more information, check out the new page all about getting rid of weeds.