Blog – late May

Organic Remedies to Keep Pests at Bay in Your Garden

In the mid 80’s when I worked at the Great Big Greenhouse, a co-worker was talking about organic methods to use in the garden to keep bugs away. “So what I do…” she said, “ is take a jar out to my garden and collect every non-beneficial bug, beetle and slug I can find. I bring the jar inside, add water to it and put it in my blender. After I blend it, I put it in my smaller sprayer and spray any plants that are getting eaten or attacked. Bugs smell the odor in the spray and leave the plant alone.”

“Ewww….” all of us who were listening said together!

Let me suggest a few other things you can do, that don’t interfere with the way you look at your next smoothie.

Flowers with a Distinct Scent

Mint, Lavender, Rosemary, Marigolds, and scented Geraniums are a great plant to put here and there in your garden to deter bugs. These plants bring color, leaf variation and odor!

Garlic and onions is another great DIY remedy to add odor that repels bugs. That too you blend together, add water and put in a spray bottle.

Strong odors can deter whitefly (which attack flowers and vegetables), aphids ( which attack azaleas) and mosquitos.

Don’t Overwater

Long term damp conditions attract pests. Prolonged wet soil adds to root rot and fungal disease. Water deeply about 2 times a week in warm temperatures and 3 times at the most in the hot weather. You want to train your plants to be strong and have roots that reach deep into the soil for a drink. Overwatering creates weaker roots because all the water is on the top of the ground. Roots don’t have to work at getting a drink. .

Plant in well drained soil

You can bet soil is well drained if it’s on a small slope or has a down hill trajectory. At the base of a slope is where water may not drain. If you are not sure, stick a trowel down in the ground a day or two after a heavy rain. If your trowel gets stuck in the mud, that area doesn’t drain well. I sometimes swap out a plant that likes wet feet or turn down the irrigation in that area.

Correct Spacing of Plants

It’s ok to have a lot of different perennials or plants, but be sure there is some space between each one. ‘Plants can almost touch but not intermingle’ is my motto. Each plant gets its own airspace.

The interior of shrubs should be free pruned every few years so there is air circulation. If you keep cutting off the tops and sides of shrubs with hedge clippers year after year, bugs will thrive in the interior of your shrub where dead stems stay damp and warm. Find a gardener who knows how to free prune or do it yourself. I will do another pruning blog soon!

Regular Checking

Look at the underside of leaves or down at the base of the plant stems to see if anything is hanging around and multiplying. If a leaf has a motley color of yellow and little pinhead spots- that could be a bug or problem in the dirt.

Avoid Brand Spectrum Herbicides

When you see a big cloud of spray like Mosquito Squad causes…that is very negative to your plants. Yes, you may kill mosquitos in the short run, but you also kill beneficial bugs like ladybugs, butterflies and preying mantis. This leaves your plants defenseless with no beneficial bugs around. These butterflies were collected after they died from a mosquito broadcast spraying.

Look for Standing Water

Mosquitos live and thrive becasue there is standing water somewhere where eggs can be hatched. Check to see if gutters drain.

Also check the end of black plastic or PVC tubes at the end of your gutters that are supposed to take water away from the house. Look for buckets, pots, cups or even birdbaths that have stagnant water in them that sit for days at a time.

Quarantine new plants if you can. Nowadays you occasionally hear about bugs in nurseries. It can happen, so check under leaves and stems of plants you are going to bring home to be sure they are ‘clean’.

Pull Off Diseased or Dead looking leaves.

Pest damage can be seen on leaves after awhile. If it’s not too widespread, pull off leaves that look damaged. The plant sends energy to dead leaves to revive them. If sickly leaves say on they divert energy away from the good leaves and can help further infect the plant.

Use Horticulture Oil (Neem Oil) or Insecticidal Soap (Dove for dishes).

These are horticultural sprays which smother bugs organically. Put either product in a sprayer that has not had pesticides in it. Spray under leaves and in the center of the plant.

If you are worried about an unidentifiable bug you can always take a cutting to the Chesterfield Extension service. Cut off and wrap the affected leaf or limb in plastic and drop it off at 9501 Lori Rd. Chesterfield, Va. They will email you the problem and solution within a week.

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.