Spider deterrent in the garden (merged)

~Chameleon~

sweetnskint wrote: »

i would use a big stick and keep breaking the webs -they might move on if you keep on top of it!-worth a try!

IME if you break their webs they just keep re-building them

I sat and watched one do this one day, absolutely fascinating! Also, if the spider is out of sight when you start fiddling with it's web, it will soon run out of hiding thinking it has LUNCH!!!!

Butterfly_Brain

Spiders are brill they kill all the nasty insects. They can't help it if they are ugly. A spiders web on a frosty morning is beautiful

Davesnave

I don't think phobias are necessarily learned. DD has this one and neither of her parents has it. She is far from being a timid person and does a tough job.
However, starting her own life 100miles away, forced her to confront the matter, as it really wasn't much help having Dad on the 'phone offering practical guidance at that sort of distance.

Luckily, arachnophobia can be tackled by exposure in very small steps, as spiders come in a wonderful range of sizes. DD has found it possible to move from very small ones to tolerating middle sized ones. Large ones are still to be dealt with. It isn't going to happen overnight.

As regards practical advice, plenty of hard landscaping, kept clean, would certainly help, as will a well-manicured lawn. If you only grow fairly robust stuff, a quick blast through the vegetation with a high powered hose jet should make the creatures a lot less visible, as will growing only low plants. It might make for a boring outside space, but one that is more usable.

Getting a fright is never nice. In some parts of the country, a deterrent for low-flying military aircraft would be a boon, but it's unlikely to be found. I'm afraid the same may be true for spiders.

Strepsy

I see this thread has gone off topic but my garden was infested too, it's not nice, I know exactly how you feel, seeing an odd one in the distance I'm fine but when it's infested it's too much. Anyway, since I've had my pet chickens, they eat them all. They'll also munch on your slugs and other bugs while they're there too so if you know someone who needs a chicken babysitter or someone who will lend you them for a few days, I'd try that. Honestly.

Davesnave

Strepsy wrote: »

I see this thread has gone off topic... .

If you think this is off-topic, you should try the house price forum some time!The liveliest exchanges we've had on the worthy-but-dull Greenfingered board for a fair while.

Sue-UU

I wouldn't say it's gone off topic at all, just people trying to give OP advice on how to cope with her fear.

bexybeck

Slightly off topic but....

I used to be extremely frightened of spiders. Years ago, in my youth, one ran across the rug on a girly night in and everyone started screaming and jumping on the sofas. I thought it was all a bit daft (and I wanted to look cool) so I picked it up and took it outside. I was the hero and I've never been frightened since. Only problem is that I'm now the one who has to take them out every time!

My garden is full of spiders this time of year, but I like it... it means I'm the only one not frightened to go out there and I have it all to myself!