July 3, 2003

Natural Garden Pest Control – Controlling Insects in the Garden

Natural garden pest control is becoming very popular as many gardeners do not like to use chemicals and spend money on certain pest control methods that could hurt the vegetables, neither do the people that eat these vegetables.

In a healthy garden the balance between pests and insects is always going to be present but controlling the overwhelming population of either of these will become necessary. Strengthen your garden by amending your soil and growing healthy plants that can survive the typical insects in the garden, this will help to eliminate the need for too much natural garden pest controls. Plants that are healthy will continue to grow even if there are a few pests in the garden.

Birds are important in the balance of the garden, they are also a source of natural pest control! Allowing birds to be around or in your garden can help control the pest population in the garden.

Keep the insects and pests busy with other types of plants so that your vegetables will grow and be healthy. Insects and bugs will like marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, dill, and nasturtiums they are a source of natural pest control too! Keep flowers around your garden that will feed the bad insects and pests, thus keeping them away from your vegetable gardens.

If at all possible buy insect resistant plant varieties when planting your garden. If potato bugs are prevalent in your area for example, buy a variety that is stronger or resistant to this problem as this will help to eliminate the need for excessive pest control. At the end of summer be sure to take measures that are going to cut down on where pests can hide over the winter, making them leave your garden and find another home. Tilling your garden under, getting rid and pulling all of the dead plants will be a good first step in prevention for the following growing season.

If you have a major infestation, hosing your garden down with an insecticidal soap will help keep pests under control without harming the environment or your vegetable crop.

Crop Rotation And Good Watering Methods Also Help Control Garden Pests

Be sure to rotate your crops so that any bugs or pests that are attracted to one particular plant, and are living in the soil in your garden, will not be attacking the same plants every year. When these little bugs can't find the plant that they want they will move on and out of your garden; an excellent pest control method!

Hosing down your garden in the late evening will only attract bugs as they need water as well. In order to encourage natural pest control it is recommended that the best time to water your garden, if you must water, is in the early morning so that the sun can dry off your plants with out hurting or burning their leaves, and without attracting more bugs and insects.

If you are having little success controlling the bugs and pests, you might want to consider using some of the organic type pest control powders that are meant to control pests. Botanical pest controls are powders that are derived from plants such as rotenone, and sabadilla. One thing that you do have to watch if you are using these last resorts is that they can kill the beneficial insects in the garden as well.

This article was published on 03 Jul 2003 by: Garden Moose . Garden Moose is a regular contributor to Greenhouses.com a great greenhouse and gardening resource website.