Natural Pest Control for the Organic Garden

It is a myth that you need to have special chemicals and expensive repellants in order to keep pests out of your garden if you are going to garden organically. There are many natural and organic measures that you can take to prevent birds, aphids, rabbits, deer, and other pests from making short work of your fruits and vegetables.

Birds

Birds are wonderful for handling pests in your garden, but once your crops begin producing, birds can lay waste to many fruits and vegetables. The most conventional way to keep birds out of your garden and your fruit trees is by covering your plants with thin netting. This netting can be purchased at most gardening stores and is not expensive. Fruit trees can be wrapped with netting and gardens can be covered with a few thin pieces.

Snakes are natural predators of birds and will frighten them away from your garden. You do not need to invest in any real snakes. Rubber snakes work just as well. Try to get some that are fairly realistic looking. They do not have to be fancy, but avoid unusual colors and patterns. Birds can get wise to rubber snakes, so make sure that you move the snakes every two or three days around the garden.

Like snakes, owls are natural predators of birds. Fake owls can be purchased at most garden stores and can be placed in or near your garden. Birds will see them during the day and keep far away. Like the rubber snakes, birds can get wise to seeing the owl in the same spot day after day, so move the owl around the garden at least once a week or so.

If you do not have money to buy anything to scare birds away, you can use recycled CDs effectively. Many people have lots of old CDs lying around that they cannot use. The shiny, flashing surfaces reflect light and colors and frighten birds. To use them, tie two CDs back to back so that their rainbow sides are facing outward. Hang them from string to posts in and around your garden or hang them from your fruit trees to keep birds out.

Aphids

Aphids can be a difficult enemy to deal with because they are so tiny and hard to detect. Sometimes, they look just like your plants and you may not notice that they are there until the damage has been done. Ants care for and farm aphids for a sticky, sugary secretion that they create, so keeping ants out of your garden is one way to help keep aphid numbers down.

Luckily, aphids are quite easy to deal with. Aphids cannot hold on to plants very well, so when it rains, they cling to the underside of leaves where they will not be washed away. Simply spray your plants with a hose from the side. It will knock off most of the aphids and they will drown in the water at the base of the plants. This is actually a fairly effective method of dealing with aphids, but must be done on a regular basis. Luckily, plants need watering anyway, so this method will not cost you anything.

Ladybugs are voracious predators of aphids. You can buy bags of live ladybugs online or from your local garden store during certain times of the year. If released during the day, ladybugs will fly away without helping to rid you of your aphid problem much. Always make sure that you release your ladybugs into your garden in the evening or at night so that they will do more good before they move on in the daytime. Most will fly away, but many will hang around where there is a good food source and plenty of potential mates.

Soapy water is one of the best ways to deal with aphids, but may kill your beneficial insects as well. Simply make a mixture of a little soap (most use dish soap, but any type of biodegradable soap will work) and lots of water and spray it on insects to kill them. They will die almost instantly and the soap will not hurt your plants.

Slugs and Snails

Slugs can destroy a lovely organic garden almost overnight! There are several ways that you can kill them and even keep them out of your garden in the first place.

It is said that copper repels slugs and snails. You can purchase copper tape to use around potted plants that slugs will not cross. Some garden stores will also sell copper edging that you can use around the border of your garden to keep slugs from crawling in.

Slug traps can be made several ways. One of the most popular methods is to leave boards laying between your plants. During the day, the slugs will hide under the boards where you can collect them and kill them. You can also leave tuna cans filled with cheap beer in the garden (cover them to keep the rainwater out). Slugs will crawl in and drown and can be disposed of every couple of days.

If you live on a farm, you can try keeping ducks. Ducks eat slugs and can be let into your garden during the day to remove other unwanted pests as well.

Sharp lava rock will deter slugs and snails because they have soft underbellies. Some garden stores will sell rough lava rock by the bag that you can place around your garden to keep slugs and snails from entering.

Rabbits and Deer

Rabbits and Deer can decimate an entire garden in only one night. To keep them away, urinate around your garden as often as possible. If you have dogs, take them for their "potty walks" in and around your garden to leave their urine scent. You must do this as often as possible, once a day if you can. If you can't stand the thought of relieving yourself outside and you do not have a dog, predator urine can be purchased at most garden stores.

If you have a dog that lives outside, place his dog house next to your garden. He will chase away rabbits, rats, and deer. Cats are also effective for keeping the rat and mouse population down and may even help to deter rabbits.

Marigolds

Marigold flowers naturally repel insects, so they are a great addition to many gardens. Grow marigolds among your garden plants for year-round insect protection. For a stronger defense, make a tea from freshly crushed marigold plants and spray it in and around your garden. It should also kill insects when sprayed directly on them.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is a sneaky method used by gardeners to confuse pests. Some plants, such as marigolds, onions, rosemary, parsley, and garlic, will repel insect pests and can be planted amongst your other garden plants. Bait plants, such as Lamb's Quarters and Nasturtium attract pests away from other plants and can then be pulled up and destroyed individually. In the wild, plants are spaced out and mixed, so insects and predators have a hard time locating them. Gardens become infested easily because all of the same type of plant is laid out in a row making them very easy to find. Mix your plants up and spread them throughout your garden to keep insect pests to a minimum.