moving to dallas in near future, questions, questions (Katy: house, landscaping)

[minnesotan]

I will be moving to dallas in the near future, i was wondering are the spiders really dangerous? is is true that they can bite you when your sleeping? i have seen the nasty spider bites online they look so graphic especially from the brown recluse! i live in minnesota and don't know a whole lot about dallas. do the spiders affect gardening, and are people bitten like you would misquitoes?



thank you for any replys

[FarNorthDallas]

We have spider issues?

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

We have spider issues?

I have a friend who was recently bitten by a brown recluse, but that's the only spider story that I can think of. I've never associated Dallas with spider issues. Mosquitos on the other hand........

[minnesotan]

I heard that spiders are real problems??? what bugs affect dallas, i am a gardener will it affect gardening?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by minnesotan

I heard that spiders are real problems??? what bugs affect dallas, i am a gardener will it affect gardening?

We've lived here 9 years and have seen one brown recluse. There's a reason they're called recluse spiders. They hunt at night and are very seldom seen.

They very rarely bite but when they do it's usually when they're pressed against your skin. The most common times people are bitten are rolling over on one in bed or putting on seldom-worn clothing that's been hanging in a closet for long periods of time.

For most people the bite produces a small ulcerated sore that heals without any complications. In a smaller number of people the lesion becomes necrotic and can take months to heal. In an even smaller number of people (somewhere around 2-5%) the effects of the toxin and necrosis can cause systemic organ failure and death.

You're probably more likely to die of a cottonmouth bite than a brown recluse bite.

Keep your house clean and vaccuumed - especially in dark areas, shake out clothes you haven't worn in quite a while, and have regular pest control service at your dwelling and they won't be a problem.

If you can co-exist with them they're excellent hunters and will keep the insect count around your house down.

Other creepy-crawlies you'll run into here -

Fire ants. They're more of a nuisance than the brown recluse.
Earwigs
Pillbugs. The only crustacean that spends its entire life on land.
Bees/Wasps/Hornets.
Mediterranean Geckos
Katydids
Praying Mantis
Mosquitos

As for your gardening, fire ants will be your biggest nemesis.

[pepper131]

What will affect your gardening is the abundance of clay in the soil and rescheduling your planting schedules.

[minnesotan]

rescheduling???? i am sorry I don't understand?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by minnesotan

rescheduling???? i am sorry I don't understand?

I think what pepper131 is talking about is the difference in the growing season between here and there.

[minnesotan]

oh i see the growing season is probably better down there.are there good landscaping services and garden centers too? by the way thanks so much for your help pepper 131 and bluescreen73! coming from minnesota idk about tropical bugs lol

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by pepper131

What will affect your gardening is the abundance of clay in the soil and rescheduling your planting schedules.

I was actually going to mention the clay soil.

When it's wet it sticks to everything and when it's dry you'd be better off digging through concrete with a spork.