After spending a really long time into tending your garden, don’t let bug and pests damage your diligent work. Numerous bugs will always be attracted to your garden, even if you planted just flowers and vegetables. The type of flowers does not matter because there are so many cheap bug-control alternatives available to you. Rather than going after pesticides all the time, to control the pests, try these common solutions used by professional gardener and florist to keep plants healthy and bug-free.
- Eggshells
Eggshells are not just good to make manure, eggshells also function as bug repellent when added to the soil before you grow the flowers. Whenever you plant new flowers, squash a few eggshells into a coarse powder, and add them around the hole. The sharp edges will not allow worms to get to your plant, and the squashed shells around the stem of plants will discourage snails and slugs.
- Garlic
If you ask anyone, they will tell you that garlic can be used to fend off witches. Well, you can utilize garlic to chase bugs away from your precious garden. When the juice is applied onto plants, garlic acts as a hindrance, urging bugs to look for more elsewhere. Garlic is safe enough to be applied to leaves, unlike numerous other insecticide sprays.
To prepare an effective garlic spray, blend just garlic cobs with water and spray onto plants. But you can make an even stronger mix by blending 1 garlic, 1 small onion and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper with 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of liquid soap. Soak overnight and afterward strain out the liquid from the mix with a strainer or a cheesecloth. Pour liquid into a spray bottle and spray on your desired plants.
- Ash
Slugs and snails additionally hate ash, lime, and sand, so whenever you have a barbeque party, take the ash and apply to the bottom of plants that are at risk.
- Diatomaceous earth
You can easily buy this at your neighborhood nursery or florist shop, diatomaceous earth comprises of left-over fossilized from diatoms, creatures with single cells. It is one of the oldest types of bug control due to the glass-like shape of diatomaceous earth. When insects crawl over it, the sharp surfaces slice through the cuticle of the bug which makes it dehydrated and the bug dies. Diatomaceous earth also kills ants, snails, and slugs. So, you should only use it in the problem areas. If not, you will kill beneficial insects like honey bees.
- Fertilizer
It is recommended to do yearly treatment for the garden and lawn, and fertilizer is the best way to boost plant development and production of flowers. You will find organic fertilizer and manure at your nearby nursery and you just have to blend it into the flower beds and dress on the lawn. The nutrients that you add to the soil will increase the quality of your plants, and when plants are healthy, they will be able to fight infections.
- Balsamic vinegar
A perfect herbicide to solve your weed issue is aged balsamic vinegar. You can spray it onto those weeds in the middle of blocks and pavers on a path or in the driveway. You can apply the vinegar spray around plants prone to attacks by insects. Since the acetic acid in the vinegar is quite strong, make you dilute it properly before spraying onto plant leaves.
- Castile Soap
According to recent research, it appears there is something else entirely to Castile soap than we know. The mild cleanser made from vegetable oil can be used to make an effective and gentle insecticide for your garden. Pour water into a recycled spray bottle and add 1 TBS tablespoon of castile soap. Spray on plants to get rid of whiteflies and aphids.
- Cedar oil
The problem with garden bugs is that they will destroy your plants entirely if you let them. Keep a bottle of cedar oil at home to make a quick insecticide. Mix a few drops with water in a spray bottle and spray onto area surrounding your flowers to control bugs. Bugs hate cedar oil but be careful not to spray the mix directly onto your flowers. The equivalent applies to Rosemary oil.
- Bananas
Do you know that bananas can keep your roses safe from aphids? All you have to do is to place a couple of dried banana skins just beneath the surface around your rose bush. Bananas have high potassium content, which is an essential supplement for the plants. You can also add banana skins to your manure pile and blend them into the soil with a hand fork. To further deter aphids, bury banana peels a few centimeters deep around the base of your flowers. Don’t forget to add a bird feeder to your garden as bananas also draw in butterflies and birds.
- Marigolds
Parasitic wasps often feed on different pests, such as caterpillars, whiteflies, and aphids. When the wasps regularly visit your garden, they can keep the bug populaces at low levels so they don’t cause harm to your flowers. To attract the wasps, you need to plant flowers like marigolds that they like when you are starting your garden. The good part is that marigold blossoms every year and it also repels bugs.
Conclusion
Join them if you can’t beat them. Rather than investing your energy attempting to keep bugs away from the plants, grow a few plants for those bugs to eat. Use these plants as a protective boundary on the edges of your garden. Bugs will see these plants first and concentrate on them as opposed to coming into your garden or nursery and feast on the plants that you love.
A few gardeners grow collard greens (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) yearly as a border around cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata). Bugs assemble on the collard greens and disregard the cabbage crop. The key is choosing a diverting plant that attracts similar bugs that you’re endeavoring to keep out of the inner part of your garden.
