There are many different pests that can infest your garden and potentially your home. These range from aphids and caterpillars to ants and even spiders.
Some ants are simply a nuisance, others, such as carpenter ants, can eat the wood in your home, effectively undermining the entire structure!
If you think you have a pest issue then it’s important to call the local exterminators as soon as possible, the quicker it is dealt with the better!
But, you can also take the following steps, they should help you naturally control and restrict insect pest activity in your garden.
It should be noted here that, while you may want a natural solution, sometimes insecticides are the simplest and fastest answer, to find out more.
Get The Right Pests
Not all insects are bad! You’ll find that the parasitic wasp, ladybird, ground beetles, and even spiders will all prey on insect pests, helping you to minimize or even eliminate certain pests from your garden.
The simplest way to attract these beneficial pests is to plant pollen and nectar-producing plants.
It is also possible to introduce slugs and snails to eat insect pests for you, they are usually easy to find and can be transplanted without issue. But, you will need to make sure they don’t become a nuisance themselves.
Don’t forget that most bees are protected, you can’t consider them pests or deliberately kill them.
Create A Barrier
Insects are generally earthbound which makes it hard for them to get around certain obstacles. For example, a fine net will generally make it difficult for insects to get to a plant, allowing it to grow properly.
Consider what insect pest you’re dealing with and use a similar method to keep it out of your garden.
Grow The Right Plants
Most insects are not keen on the smell of lavender, citronella, and rosemary. That makes these great plants to put around your garden and any seating area. The smell is generally nice for humans but will help you to enjoy your garden free of insect pests.
It’s also a good idea to plant sacrificial plants. These are ones that you allow to be eaten by insect pests, in order to protect any plant you don’t want to be eaten.
Other useful plants are garlic, basil, and marigolds, all can help to keep insects away from your garden.
Make A Trap
Another option is the classic insect trap. Simply cut the top third off a plastic lemonade bottle and then insert the top, upside down, into the bottom.
Now add some sweet liquid, such as sugared water and coat the inside of the bottle with a little olive oil, this will prevent the insects from getting a grip when they try to get out. The sweet water will attract them and they’ll find it easy to get into the bottle, getting out is much more difficult.
Being vigilant is the real key to successfully controlling common insect pests in the garden, by knowing your enemy you can devise the best way of dealing with them.