Getting Rid of Those Pesky Garden Bugs

Growing a large, flourishing garden sure would be easier if we did not have to deal with all the bugs that seem to come along with gardens. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and we need to pay special attention to them, making sure to weed out the ones who cause the most damage.

You are probably wondering how you can keep bugs out of your garden. Well, you might not believe it, but one very easy way is to keep your garden clean. To keep a clean, orderly garden all you have to do is be sure to take all the dead weeds out and keep the compost pile a little farther away from the fruits, vegetables, or flowers. Those are the prime hide-outs for nasty, plant eating bugs.

Other ways you might keep the pest population down would be by placing bird feeders in and around your garden. This may cause birds to go after the bugs living in your garden. Birds like sparrows, robins, and meadow larks are birds that might help you with this. You have to be prepared for the adverse affects however. Birds also eat seeds, and may try to eat parts of your plants or seeds from your garden as well.

Another helper in keeping those nasty critters away from your garden is the toad. In order to make your garden a more toad friendly place, be sure to have some sort of water place. You can build a small pond in the shade so on those hot summer days toads will find your garden as a great resting place. We all know toads eat insects, so why not let them eat the insects that are causing you all this grief?

If your bug problem is just way out of control you can always turn back to one of the most common methods of bug extermination: poison. Many farms and small gardens are kept clean by poison sprayed on the plants which the bugs that eat your plant then digest, killing them. Please keep in mind that if you have a vegetable garden that you eat out of, you have to be very careful when washing the plants as you do not want to ingest the poisons yourself. These can be very dangerous in high doses, but also very effective if used properly.

Now, if you do not want those pesky bugs to get any of your plant, you can spray another type of chemical which is made to fall upon the outside of the bug, ridding you of their nuisance that way. Just as with the other poison though, you have to be sure and thoroughly clean the food that may come from your garden before trying to eat it.

Not all bugs pester you the same way. Some climb to the leaves of your plants and eat them, some lay their eggs on your plants, turning them into nests, and some even burrow underground and eat the plants delicate and vital roots. Things like ants or cutworms can destroy your garden without you even knowing they are there. A good way to stop cutworms, which generally cut off your plant at the very base in a very straight line, is to put paper or tin cones around the bottom of the plant, maybe an inch or two away from the plant itself.

As you can see, gardening is not the easy task we would all like it to be. However, with some hard work and dedication, you can rid your garden of pesky creatures like the cutworm. Simple remedies like ponds for toads and bird houses for the birds can help you avoid the use of pesticides. If your problem persists, you always have that alternative to fall back on. So good luck, and happy gardening!