Organic Pest Control

Pesticides and Poison traps are not the sort of thing anyone wants in their yard or garden, especially amongst any fruits and vegetables you’re planning on eating. So, at the request of a long time customer, I’ve put together some tried and true methods of protecting your plants (and yourself!) from some very annoying pests and scavengers.


Birds


I don’t know how many peaches and tomatoes were lost to birds that left them half eaten still on the plant. Then I learned a neat trick from an organic farm that has kept them away ever since! So, keep them away by using reflective iridescent ribbon or tape. For trees cut them into 12 inch strips and tie one end to various branches. For ground produce, use sticks and ties to run the tape along the rows. Make sure to loosely twist it as you go and leave enough slack to let the breeze catch and move the tape. Tying individual pieces to the tops of tomato cages also works.  The sunlight reflects off the tape and the breeze makes it move as well, mimicking fire which birds actively avoid.


Mosquitoes


Remove any standing water sources if possible, like wheelbarrows, buckets, and old tires. If you have items like bird baths, saucers for potted plants or water dishes for pets, then completely empty and re-fill the water twice a week to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs. Rain gutters are also a risk if they get clogged, so make sure to check and clean them if necessary to keep water from backing up. Tall grass and weeds also provide areas for mosquitoes to multiply, so make sure not to let the yard go to long without mowing.


While barbequing, toss some sage and rosemary onto the coals. Smells great and deters mosquitoes from hanging around the food.  Have mosquito repelling plants as center pieces for patio dining. I bet you never thought having a small planter of basil, rosemary, or lemon grass on the table would be more useful than just adding it to dinner. Planting marigolds and catnip (believe it or not) along path ways or around high traffic areas works great. Citronella oil based candles are also a very popular method of keeping mosquitoes away while spending time on the patio. Some people recommend also mixing the oil into varnish and paint for outdoor areas, but the effectiveness of these methods hasn’t been studied yet.


Slugs


There is a great slug repellant that actually helps out your plants. Seaweed mulch or fertilizer contains a ton of minerals that help promote healthy plant development and prevent diseases. Another technique for dealing with slugs is to use beer traps. Here is an awesome DIY for making slug beer traps from recycled plastic bottles, darker beer recommended.


Aphids/Mites/Whiteflies/Scale


Lady Bugs are awesome and there need to be more of them in every garden. You can either attract wild ones by planting daisies, tansy, or yarrow or you can go and buy some from your local garden store and release them into your garden. Personally, I recommend doing both since the flowers will help convince them to stick around once you’ve released them.


Rodents



Make sure your compost and garbage containers are all well sealed to prevent them from stopping by. If you’ve already seen some activity, soak cloth rags or cotton balls in peppermint oil and leave anywhere you have seen activity. Rodents are allergic to peppermint and will avoid it. This also works for deterring rabbits from nibbling. Make sure to check any rags or cotton balls after it rains, as they will probably need to be re-soaked in oil.


Ants


Block their point of entry using a barrier of cayenne pepper, citrus oil soaked into a string, lemon juice, cinnamon, coffee grounds, or slices of cucumber. Make sure to wash counters, door frames, and window frames carefully with soap and vinegar solutions to erase any scent trails that scouts may have created.


Wasps


Remove food sources. Always make sure compost and garbage is sealed tightly. In the spring they’re more attracted to protein sources like pet food and picnic scraps. In late summer and early fall, wasps grow more aggressive and are also more interested in sugars, so they’ll head straight for your soda can, fruit juice, fruit left fallen on the ground in the garden (apples, tomatoes, etc). Make sure to wash hands or, if necessary, change clothes if you have any sugary spills (kids especially) and avoid wearing bright floral patterns.


Wasps are also attracted to perfumes and sweet smells, so avoid wearing them if you planning to spend a lot of time outside. Fake nests are available at most stores, but a crumpled brown paper bag shaped like a nest also works just as well. Also, paint the underside of overhangs, patios, sheds, and bird nests with sky blue. This confuses the wasps and they won’t build nests on that colour. You can also create or purchase traps. This simple one recycles plastic bottles. Check and change the traps often to keep wasps from using other dead wasps as a “raft” to stay alive and eventually escape.


Row Covers


Floating row covers are the most common pest control for gardens. They consist of a light weight opaque material which is draped over the entire garden bed. The material must be light enough that the plants can just continue to push it up as they grow, so make sure you have extra slack on the sides.  Weight them down with rocks along the edges so that the wind doesn’t blow the material away. This method is mostly meant for non-pollinating plants, but you can also use it just to protect seedlings and then remove the row cover once they start to flower. They are great for protecting broccoli, beets, carrots, chard and spinach since flying insects won’t be able to land on the leaves to lay their eggs.


Chickens - (nature’s pest control)


Chickens will eat just about any type of bug, so if you’re lucky enough to have room for a couple egg layers, then take advantage of them in your garden. One technique is to create a chicken run that circles the perimeter of your garden. That way you don’t need to watch them too closely, but most pests will avoid trying to enter the garden area. Then allow the chicken carefully supervised time in the garden itself. You’ll have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t harm any of the smaller plants, but they’ll mostly be digging for grubs in the soil.