5 Natural Alternatives for Removing Garden Pests
May 15, 2008 by Linette Gerlach
Filed under Garden Pests
It’s easy to get the spray bottle out and blast your plants with insecticide to get rid of garden pests. The only problem is you have to eat those fruits and vegetables. You also want the bees and butterflies to pollinate your garden without dying.
Here are 5 ways to remove garden pests naturally. I’m not saying any of these methods are easy, but they do work.
1. Encourage beneficial insects, birds, and toads to visit your garden.
2. Hand pick bugs and drop them in soapy water.
3. Blast aphids and small bugs with a stream of plain, or soapy water. Don’t try this on extremely delicate plants.
4. Try sticky traps, and barriers for slugs and snails.
5. Remove and destroy affected plants and leaves if possible.
6. Give the affected plants a spray of Fels Napthia soap. It’s a bars soap, but you find it in the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery.
If all else fails, and you have to pick up the spray bottle, use the least invasive treatment possible. Spray only the infected plants or leaves, not your whole garden or yard.
Image: Stock.xchng
Hand pick! You are a brave girl. Well, actually bugs don’t bug me (heh) just the spiders. Shiver. I like companion planting; but I know, there’s not an option for every pest.
Companion planting is an excellent option, I actually have another post coming up just on that subject:)
Okay, so what about the bunnies and chipmunks? The hawk across the street is taking care of the chipmunks but the bunnies are eating EVERYTHING!
Pickel, Probably the only thing that will stop the bunnies is a fence:)