Natural Pest Control

Nothing quite like having your garden munched on and/ or destroyed by uninvited guests like aphids, ants, birds and the like. Here are some suggestions for keeping your garden free of pests!

First off, if you can find praying mantis anywhere, capture them in a jar and transport them to your property ~ they destroy numerous pesky bugs that love to eat your garden. The same goes for Orioles, Wrens, Tanagers and Purple Martins ~ I've found that Orioles and Wrens are much easier to attract than Martins by simply putting several ordinary hummingbird feeders around your property, especially near the garden. Usually if you attract Orioles, Tanagers will follow suit. Orioles and Red Headed Woodpeckers LOVE to eat from hummingbird feeders and once they have found this foodsource, they will not be going anywhere anytime soon ~ meaning they will most likely nest and procede to gobble up every bug in sight (not to mention all the heavy activity from Orioles and Hummingbirds makes other birds like Starlings and Crows that love to demolish a garden get lost in a hurry). Wrens are sweet songbirds that eat up bugs as well ~ purchase or build several wren houses and you'll have a wren family in no time! It also helps to have a birdbath and a decent amount of trees and shrubs nearby for habitat.

I'll also mention that having a tom cat around helps tremendously if you are dealing with Voles (not to mention other rodents) and also love to eat grasshoppers! 

Toads are also very beneficial to a garden and do their share of insect eating ~ some folks create a "toad house"  by turning over a broken flowerpot in a shady place near the garden to encourage the toad population.

Tree frogs also eat all sorts of pests like mosquitos, cabbage moths and other flying pests, if you feel so inclined to transport some to your property (if they're not already there).

If you're not too turned off by bats, they are wonderful at keeping the insect population down and can be attracted by building a bat house near your property (we have some bats and i love to watch them at sundown!).

Plant Zennias in with your tomatoes to detour tomatoe worms and other pests ~ i know some people swear by marigolds, and i agree they help some, but zennias planting right alongside your tomatoes not only eliminate the worms, but also hold up your plants to the point that you may not even need tomatoe cages.

If you want to keep CATS out of your garden, try laying down some thorny branches, orange or lemon peels (cats hate citrus) or sprinkle some cayenne pepper around the areas they are visiting.

If you want to keep DOGS away, pour or spray ammonia near the area you want them to stay away from (but NOT directly in your garden or on your plants).

To kill ANTS mix some borax with sugar and set out in little piles near their hills, this will destroy the colony when the ants bring it back and feed it to the rest of the hill. To prevent ants from climbing up stalks or getting onto hummingbird feeders, use a little patroleum jelly on the bottom of stalks (won't harm plants) or the hanger of your feeders, this stops them instatly!

SQUASH BUGS are foiled by cedar chips in combination with terpentine soaked newspapers.

SLUGS love beer ~ dig a small hole and sink a cup about half full of stale beer into the ground. The slugs go for the beer, fall in and drown.

CUTWORMS are discouraged by sprinkling wood ash in your garden.

APHIDS really drive people nuts, but I have'nt had issues with them ever because of the ladybugs that were brought in to stamp out their population ~ which worked in a big way, but now the ladybugs drive everyone here crazy!  lol

HERBS that detour pests include:

Aster ~ most insects

Basil ~ repels flies and mosquitos

Borage ~ detours tomato worm and improves the growth and taste of tomatoes

Calendula ~ most insects

Catnip ~ deters fly beetle

Celery ~ cabbage white butterfly

Mums ~ most insects

Dead Nettle ~ potato bug. improves growth and flavor of potatoes

Eggplant & Flax ~ colorado potato beetle

Garlic ~ japanese beetle, other insects and blight

Geranium ~ most insects

Horseraddish ~ plant at corners to prevent potato bug

Henbit ~ general insect repellant

Hyssop ~ cabbage moth

Marigolds ~ mexican bean beetle, nematodes and other insects

Mint ~ white cabbage moth and ants

Mole plant ~ deters moles and mice when plants here and there

Nasturtiums ~ aphids, squash bugs and striped pumpkin bugs

Onion family ~ most bugs and pests

Petunia ~ protects beans

Pot Marigold ~ deters asparagus beetle, tomatoe worms and general garden pests

Peppermint ~ plant near cabbages to prevent cabbage moth

Raddish ~ cucumber beetle

Rosemary ~ cabbage moth, bean beetle and carrot fly

Rue ~ japanese beetle

Sage ~ cabbage moth and carrot fly

Salsify ~ carrot fly

Southernwood ~ cabbage moth

Summer Savory ~ bean beetle

Tansy ~ flying insects, japanese beetle, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs and ants

Thyme ~ cabbage worm

Wormwood ~ carrot fly, white cabbage butterfly, black flea beetle