Natural Pest Control In Your Garden
If you want to use methods of organic pest control in your garden, good for you! That’s a wonderful choice – very environmentally friendly and responsible.
Why Worry?
Pests, whether they are insects, birds, or other animals, can do a lot of damage to a garden. Depending on the type of pest, they can eat the crop (remember Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor’s garden? Did we really root for the rabbit?), suck the juices (aphids to this with little straw-shaped mouthparts), and stunt the growth of our plants.
Many seemingly responsible people use chemical pesticides – are they all wrong? Rather than “wrong,” they are more likely uninformed. They don’t realize the damage that is done to our environment – gardens and bodies by using so many chemicals.
The chemicals get into the soil and can harm the soil for years to come. These pesticides kill off not just the pests but also many beneficial insects, inflicting more damage to the natural system of organic pest control in our gardens. As there are less beneficial insects like praying mantis and ladybird beetles, the pests have less natural enemies. Bees and butterflies, which are the prime pollinators of our outdoor world, are also often killed by chemical “pest control” methods.
Another thing to consider is what happens to the pests (both insect and weed) when we continue to use chemicals for control in our garden, rather than organic insects control. Studies show that the same thing happens in this segment of life as in the medical field – where the overuse of antibiotics has resulted in the evolution of “superbugs” that are resistant to what used to be very effective infection killers. In our gardens, weeds that used to be easily killed by a quick shot of Roundup or another weed control product are now becoming more resistant to Roundup, resulting in less effectiveness in controlling weeds.
The better choice, the organic pest control in our garden for weeds? Pull them. Pull them whenever and wherever you see them. And try pouring some boiling water on them when you see them in the cracks of the sidewalk or driveway, where it may be harder to pull them. It may take a couple of applications, but the boiling water will kill them. There are many tools available now to help with pulling weeds.
Where To Get More Information?
To get more ideas for organic pest control in your garden, check a gardening magazine (like Organic Gardening) or an online site. Or ask other avid gardeners for their tips and tricks – gardeners are a friendly lot and are usually willing to share their successful methods of controlling not-so-friendly pests.
