Spring is delightful, but it can also be a time when the bugs take great delight in munching everything in sight: the plants, the garden beds, you. If you’re feeling frustrated with the bugs in your garden, what can you do to control their populations without resorting to spraying toxic pesticides? Organic pest control methods are a healthy and safe alternative.
First take a look at your garden. Is it a healthy ecosystem right now? Does it have a variety of plants, including plants that attract birds and beneficial insects? Birds and insects can control the pests that eat your garden. You want to have insects in your garden, but you want the kinds that eat other bugs to live there too. For example, birds eat slugs and snails, and slugs and snails eat your lettuce. Develop a garden where natural predator-prey relationships do the work for you. Plants that attract beneficial insects include yarrow, dill, fennel, coriander, parsley, Queen Anne’s lace, and dandelion. Grow garlic and chives because aphids and mites can’t stand them.
Choose plants that thrive in your area. If you’re trying to grow grass in an area that is naturally mossy, you’re going to have to try very hard. If you try to grow a sun-loving flower in the shade, you may need to defend it with pesticides when it withers and gets eaten. Instead, be logical and look at what your plants need. Give it to them and you will have fewer pest problems.
As a last resort, use organic bug sprays. Mix liquid soap with vinegar and water and spray it on affected plants. Do not do this near a pond or a river, since the soap and vinegar are bad for the ecosystem.
Do you garden organically? Why or why not? How do you control pests in your garden?