• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Grasshoppers Are Plentiful – Why?

July 30, 2008 by Jeanne

Grasshoppers are plentiful this year. Why? A look at these intriguing insects.

Grasshoppers in the Summer

We’ve been noticing a lot of grasshoppers on the sunflowers along the south side of the house. John’s dad loves sunflowers, and he planted dozens of them. Back on Long Island, the sunflowers never grew above a foot tall before rabbits or chipmunks destroyed them. The chipmunks, in particular, adored the seeds and dug up the seeds and seedlings faster than Jack could plant them. Not so in Virginia. He was able to get quite the crop started and now we have towering eight foot high, glorious sunflowers growing against the house. They remind me of our trip to South Dakota when John stopped the car along the highway just to take a picture of the miles and miles of sunflowers growing in the farmer’s fields.
 
But one thing we’ve noticed on our own sunflowers are grasshoppers – and lots of them. The photo above shows one on a sunflower. The gray area is Pierre the cat. John holds Pierre up to the sunflower and the grasshoppers turn away. They hop a bit to one side. We’ve tried it several times and no matter how quiet Pierre is, they seem to know he’s a predator!
 
I didn’t know anything about grasshoppers, so I conducted some research. Colorado State Agriculture has some good information on controlling grasshoppers as pests.
 
I learned that our insect visitors are probably katydids, rather than grasshoppers because katydids have long horns and grasshoppers, short ones (who knew?). I also learned that they do eat plants, and that’s the cause of the big holes in our sunflower leaves. The most fascinating fact is that they can camouflage themselves and change colors! So that explains why we see brown ones on the ground and green ones on the sunflowers.
 
The damage to the leaves is unsightly but doesn’t seem to bother the sunflowers, so we are not doing anything about the grasshoppers. Sitting in the house and watching them leap from plant to plant entertains Pierre, after all!
 
My latest gardening articles are posted to various websites, so if you have a minute, check them out – also have a new alternate health article on the benefits of drinking tea.

Filed Under: Garden Pests

Previous Post: « Keeping Rabbits Out of the Garden
Next Post: Diversity of Work and Wildlife »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a closeup of watermelon

Watermelon in the Home Garden

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

Growing zucchini in raised beds ensures that this prolific vegetable has the best conditions to thrive. You can grow zucchini in pots or containers, but I prefer growing it in raised beds. This is a great vegetable to grow if you have a “black thumb” and kill plastic plants, because it’s hard to grow a…

Read More

a close up of onions

How to Grow Onions in Your Backyard

Wondering how to grow onions? I’ve grown onions here at Seven Oaks Farm in several ways: from “sets” or starter plants and from store-bought onions that sprouted in the bag! Onions don’t require much space, and you can grow a lot for the money you spend on starter plants. Let’s take a look at how…

Read More

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme