How to Control Pests in Your Garden Without Commercial Chemicals
by lanne on Mar 14, 2009 with 17 Comments
Nothing is more annoying than going to your garden and finding that it has been ravaged by pests. By implementing some of the following ideas, you can safeguard your garden and enjoy the bounty it will produce.
Birds and Other Wildlife
- Keep Blue Jays and Crows from stealing your corn by putting inflated bicycle inner tubes around the corn stalks. The birds will think the inner tube is a snake and won`t bother with your corn.
- Drape berry bushes or strawberry plants with an old lightweight fishing net to keep the birds from eating the fruit. Empty mesh onion bags that have been cut open work well too.
- Protect your grapes from birds with used shopping bags. Cut the bottom two corners from several shopping bags, slip them over grape clusters and use a stapler to fasten the bags. The holes will allow for adequate ventilation and drainage for the grapes to ripen.
- Wrap trees with chicken wire to prevent mice and other critters from chewing the bark. Just be sure that you wrap it higher than the snow line will be.
- To protect melons, squash and pumpkins while they ripen, cover them with old milk crates.
- To keep Deer out of your garden, hang bars of heavily scented soap around the perimeter of the garden. The Deer do not like the smell and will not go past it.
Cats and Dogs
- If your pets will not stay out of your flower garden, sprinkle a good amount of black pepper around the flowers. The animals do not like the smell and it won`t harm the plants.
- Cats love to scratch and roll in freshly turned dirt. To keep cats from digging up your seeds, place chicken wire on turned soil as soon as you are finished planting so that the cats can`t scratch the soil. When seeds have sprouted and soil is no longer light and fluffy from turning, the cats won`t have any desire to dig.
Insects
- Protect your cabbages from pests with old pantyhose. When cabbages are tennis ball size, cover them with the leg of old pantyhose. They will let in light and stretch as the cabbage grows.
- Aphids love anything that is bright yellow. To trap Aphids, paint old jar lids with bright yellow paint and coat them with petroleum jelly or honey and place throughout the garden. Make sure to re coat the lids regularly.
- Get rid of Caterpillars with citrus juice. In a food processor, grind up the peel and seeds of any citrus fruit and soak them 8-12 hours in water. In the morning strain the liquid into a spray bottle and spray it on your plants.
- Earwigs like to hide during the day in damp dry places. To get rid of them, place pieces of corrugated cardboard throughout the garden. When daylight comes they will hide in the corrugations. In the morning pick up the cardboard and burn it. (use new cardboard each time)
- To get rid of fire ants, pour scalding water on the hills.
- To get rid of grasshoppers, plant Basil around the perimeter of the garden. The grasshoppers will fill up on the Basil and leave the plants for you.
- Sprinkle the garden with moth crystals to get rid of slugs. This also keeps dogs and cats away.
Aphids
Slug
Grasshopper
Earwig
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Published in: Gardening
Mr Doc | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Excellent! well-written and very informative article! I liked it! Thanx 4 sharing
Mr Ghaz | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Great work! very helpful article! Thanks for sharing
christine | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
My Grandmother used to put out saucers of beer in the garden. The slugs would be attracted to it, climb in and drown.
lanne | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Thanks all for your comments. Christine, I would do that because I know it works, but my dog loves beer!! she would get to it first I am afraid
Jo Oliver | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Love love love this article. One of my biggest things is all the chemicals that we put on our food…and thus into our body, ground, and air. I am a big organic advocate. Great job!
valli | Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Nice and informative article.
RJ Chamberlain | Mar 15, 2009 | Reply
Great tips Lanne.
RJ
DA Cournean | Mar 15, 2009 | Reply
Thank you for the article and for including the pictures. I have heard of most of these pests, but was not sure what they looked like. I have found that salt sprinkled around plants will keep slugs from getting to them also.
Maryanne | Mar 15, 2009 | Reply
Great article!
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Fornis | Mar 15, 2009 | Reply
Having pests is natural in a garden and annoying for a gardener.
Does it mean a lot of work to control pests without chemicals.
Sandra Tapia | Mar 16, 2009 | Reply
This helps me out a great deal. I’m trying so hard to keep my garden going.
James DeVere | Mar 16, 2009 | Reply
Hot water won’t get rid of fire ants. They will revenge. I’ve been there – not a great idea.
Apart from that! Great tips. j
Lauren Axelrod | Mar 16, 2009 | Reply
I have an issue with fire ants that got into my garage. They are sneaky little knuckleheads.
Shelley | Mar 18, 2009 | Reply
Fantastic article. Definitely we need to limit the chemical exposures for ourselves and other beloved creatures that roam the earth!
Thanks so much.
Shelley
http://www.cancercanbebeaten.com
melissa | Mar 23, 2009 | Reply
I am very curious how well the scalding water on fire ants works. They are a huge problem where we live, and have spent tons of money to get rid of them, and it never works.
Cheryl | Mar 24, 2009 | Reply
Have been an organic gardener for over fifty years – it’s hard work but worth it. I don’t kill birds, snakes, frogs, etc. with poison and they return the favor by eating my not-so-friendly bugs. Even possums help by eating slugs and grubs and so do moles, believe it or not. A few years ago, I started using coffee grounds around my plants and I do believe they help deter slugs and snails. I also use egg shells crumbled up and spread around the plants, and the beer “treats,” and in the early morning I go out and pick the slugs out of my garden and toss them in the woods. That’s where they are intended to be, to eat the fallen organic debris. We don’t have fire ants, but I know I’d not be able to pour the boiling water on them. They’re here for a reason – watch them and figure it out – try to live with them.
Jerry | Apr 28, 2009 | Reply
how do I keep the little brown ants out of my corn?