5 Tips for Garden Pest Control
We work hard on our gardens. Whether we’re growing vegetables or flowers or plant a few annuals in front of our homes, we want the efforts of our labor to last. And when garden pests seek to take over control and destroy our work, it can feel like a devastating loss. Though there is no guarantee that you won’t have future pest problems in your garden, there are things you can do to mitigate those risks. To control garden pests, you need to start by changing the conditions that invite pests into your garden to begin with. Check out this list of five tips for garden pest control.
How to keep pests out of your garden
If you have pests in your garden and want to protect all of your precious vegetables, fruits, and other plants, there are a few things you can try.
1. Give Your Plants Some Space
Pests love to hang out in tight spaces. So, when you place your plants too close to one another in your garden, it creates a perfect place for pests to hang out. Garden pests will seek out these tightly placed plants to beat the heat, feed, and hide from other predators.
2. Water Your Garden In The Morning
Whenever possible, water your garden first thing in the morning. This strategy provides your garden with a healthy drink of water to get through the day and gives leaves time to dry before nightfall. Damp plants are the perfect hangout for pests such as snails, slugs, and earwigs.
3. Put Out A Toad House
Toads might sound unconventional, but trust us on this one. If your garden welcomes toads, frogs, and birds, it will serve as a natural scarecrow for pests. Though birds may nibble a bit on your garden, they will also help rid it of pests. After all, pests are the perfect nibble for birds resting from a long day of flying. And toads and frogs, of course, are well-known to make a feast out of insects.
4. Invite Beneficial Insects To Your Garden
That’s right. Get rid of insects in your garden by inviting insects to your garden. The key, however, is to ask the right ones. For example, the ladybug nymph is a vacuum cleaner for aphids, spider mites, and scale insects. So, plant some cosmos, sunflowers, marigolds, or calendulas to bring in those helpful ladybugs. Be sure to plant some low-growing plants such as thyme, rosemary, or mint, which serve as an excellent cover for ground beetles and are also tasty additions to your kitchen. Composite flowers such as daisies, chamomile, and mints, including spearmint, peppermint, and catnip, attract predatory wasps, hoverflies, robber flies, and canoe also help eat up some of those peskier garden pests.
5. Pick Veggies, Fruits, And Flowers When Ripe
Staying on top of your plantings is also a helpful strategy. Ripe fruits and veggies are a tasty treat for harmful garden pests. Even more so, fruits that have fallen off plants and lie on the ground are an easy mark for insects. Overripe fruit or vegetables still clinging to the plant can also hurt the plant by weakening it and making it a perfect target for garden pests. So, be sure to stay on top of your garden harvest by picking fruits, veggies, and flowers when they are ready. And be sure to clean up any fruits that have fallen.
Call OMNIS if Your Garden Pests Have Gotten Out of Control
If your garden pests have become too much to bear, the chances are that you could benefit from professional garden pest control. Based out of Castle Rock, Colorado, the OMNIS team is the perfect partner to help you identify strategies to mitigate pest problems in your garden. To learn more about how the OMNIS team can help, call us at 720-583-4126. We’re here to help.
Pill Bugs
Ants
Spiders
Bees
Crickets
Millipedes
Wasps
Hornets
Mice
Voles
Rats
Snakes
Bats
Birds
Squirrels
Gophers
Raccoons
Mosquitos
It’s great that you mentioned that staying on top of your plantings is also a helpful strategy as ripe fruits and veggies are a tasty treat for a harmful garden pests. My brother has trouble handling pests in his garden since he doesn’t have the right formulas and equipment to keep them away. I’ll share this with him and also suggest to hire pest control services since he can’t handle the situation on his own. Thanks!
I found this blog really very helpful to keep the insects and pest away from our home and garden.