Pest invasion on your garden is inevitable. Instead of getting some harmful insecticide spray to tackle the problem and poisoning the soil and yourself in the process, you can use organic pest control methods in your garden to maintain a healthy environment for your plants.
Know your enemies
Pests attack and destroy your garden by taking up residence and eating up your plants. Insects like grasshoppers, squash beetle, aphid and Japanese beetle often infest our gardens in varying numbers and eats up both leaves and buds. They then lay eggs that turn into many hungry larvae that eat up even more than the adults. Other smaller creatures like cabbage worm and snails too eats a sizeable amount of garden plant leaves and fruits.
Powerful allies
However, like all other things created, there are bad insects and then there are good insects. And thankfully, there are plenty of good insects that help control the bad ones and keep your garden safe and secure. Spiders and Praying Mantis feed on many “bad” insects that infest our garden. If a Praying Mantis or a Lady Beetle or a dragonfly takes up residence in your garden, they will provide your plants and crops with ongoing security. Ground beetle, Hover flies, Lacewing and even Parasitic Wasps hunt and feed on “bad” insects that destroy your garden and so are your friends. Since all of your insect allies are predators, they do not damage your garden. You can get these helpful insects into your garden by either ordering them from a store or attract them with insectary plants.
Insectary Plants
As the name indicates, insectary plants are those that attract insects. You can introduce some of these plants to you garden to lure in beneficial insects. Insectary plants essentially increases pollen and nectar resources of your garden which is required by the natural enemies of garden pests. There must be 5 – 10% of your garden dedicated to insectary plants like Cornflower, Alyssum, Fennel, Borage and Anise. You should plan a year long bloom to keep beneficial insects from leaving your garden. You may also mix you insectary plants with Marigolds, Sunflowers, Cup Plants, Zinnias and Cosmos to get a year round bloom.
Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade)
Diatomaceous Earth is a fine powder made up of fossilized algae. While it feels soft in the hands, under the microscope Diatomaceous Earth has razor sharp edges which pierce the exoskeleton of pests and thereby killing it. Since it is a natural compound made of fossilized algae, it is completely safe for your garden. You should apply Diatomaceous Earth to leaves with a duster while wearing a dust musk and re-apply after rainfall to maintain effectiveness. Using chemicals to kill insects many a time leads to insects forming higher chemical resistance. But Diatomaceous Earth kills pests physically without affecting their chemical resistance.
