Home Garden Pond

 

Garden pests can often be found underneath or on the surface of leaves, or flowers In order to protect your plants frequently inspect them for signs of activity of garden pests . The presence of garden pests is not always easy to identify due to their size and ability to blend into their surroundings and nocturnal behaviors. Having a powerful magnifying glass can help detect the smallest of bugs. If you’re not sure the damage to your plant has been caused by a garden pests , take part of the damaged plant to a garden center for advice

If you want healthy crops and plants you need to recognize common garden pests as soon as possible. Identifying a problem early on can save months of hard work from being wasted what is that old adage about a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure well in this case it is definitely so.

Two common signs indicating garden pests are active which every gardener will sooner or later encounter

holes in plant leaves. caused by garden pests that munch on plants such as Beatles, earwigs, grasshoppers, snails, slugs and caterpillars

Then there are garden pests that feed on plants by sucking the juices out of the plant like mini vampires, These insects include white flies, aphids, leaf miners and garden mites.

Slugs and snails are  Common Garden Pests

What do These Garden Pests  Attack?

These greedy slimy garden pests can ruin your freshly leaved plantings by nocturnal nibbling on bedding plants and salad crops, most soft leaved perennials such as Hosta’s and the fresh shoots of certain shrubs such rose’s and Hydrangeas are targets for slugs and snails.

How can these Garden pests be dealt with

Most people’s first instinct is to rush to the local garden centre and grab a pack of slug pellets, now while this product is effective if topped up regularly it does have its draw backs. The pellets can look quite unsightly scattered in your borders they are not water resistant ,there is also the chance that pets may ingest the pellets which can make the pet very ill.

There are of course more natural methods to deter these slimy garden pests such as mulching the base of the target plants with sharp edged gravel, sand or crushed eggshells or seashells that are uncomfortable for slugs and snails to slither across. Another natural preventative measure for these type of garden pests is to encircle your prized plantings with mounds of bran or crushed oats, which are moisture absorbent. Slugs and snails very rarely make it past this barrier as it absorbs their secreted slime that they use to travel. You can buy products like diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it around your hostas. But sand is cheaper and lasts longer. It has the same effect of creating a course or gritty surface that the slugs won’t crawl over to get to the plant. If I start to see slug damage on plants, I pull out the sand and sprinkle it around the base. If I do this early in the season, the plants then fill out and hide the sand from view
There are of course then the commercially available pest Barriers, which are Very low maintenance, permanent, flexible and can be used in various situations. These consist of either a physical barrier or sensory repellent to deter these garden pests

* Granules

* Spray repellent

* Slug collars

* Copper tape/rings/mats

Copper gives slugs a natural electric charge and they back away. Granules are designed to suck the slime from the slug which dares to cross over. Sprays are used in hard-to-protect-places like greenhouse window frames. It uses a smell that is repellent to slugs e.g. yukka extract.

Biological control: Boosting numbers of naturally occurring microscopic nematodes in the soil. Major advantage of this control is the fact that most slugs (90 %) live in the soil. One application lasts for up to 6 weeks. Only available from April to September due to a minimum soil temperature needed.

All these products are available from most Organic Gardening Catalogs.

Management of garden pests organically-
1. Avoid planting into heavy soil, which is favored by slugs.

2. Avoid sowing into a site bordering grass, compost heaps or piles of organic waste, as all of these provide a base from which slugs and snail garden pests will carry out their midnight forays.

3. Dig over your soil once or twice before planting, this will bring up slug eggs to the surface of the soil to be eaten by birds.

4. You can try planting plant varieties offering high resistance to garden pests like slugs and snails , Here are a few of the annuals and perennials that slugs and snails are not particularly fond of, however, if they are hungry enough they will eat virtually anything. Remember slugs and snails prefer new foliage so there may be times when they will bother some plants, and other times when they will move onto more succulent ones. For some reason it appears that slugs and snails tend to avoid plants with hairy leaves or those with a milky sap.

Annuals
* Ageratum
* Allysum
* Begonia
* Cosmos
* Geranium
* Lobelia
* Nasturtium
* Nemesia
* Portulaca
* Painted daisy (Pyrethrum)
* Verbena
* Zinnia
Perennials

* Aquilegia (Columbine)
* Arabis
* Armeria
* Astilbe
* Aubrietia
* Campanula
* Dianthus (Pinks, Carnations)
* Dicentra (Bleeding Hearts)
* Geum
* Gypsolphila (Baby’s Breath)
* Helleborus
* Hemcrocallis (Day Lily)
* Iberis (Candytuft)
* Lupine
* Peonies
* Rudbeckia
* Sedum
* Thyme

5. Avoid excessive watering of your plants, slug’s and snails love slithering on wet soil.

6. Turn old wet sacks and wooden boards to your advantage, leaving them encircling your plants. each morning scrape off the slugs from beneath these damp covers.

7.Don’t overfeed young plants in spring, as this only encourages soft growth, which slugs and snails both love to eat.

8. Always try to water the garden in the morning, rather than the evening, as trails of water over the garden enable easier passage for these garden pests

Place piles of sweet bran under hostas to create a mollusk  smorgasbord at night. Then just pick them off the piles of bran in the morning.

You could also grow a few sacrificial plants ie a tasty lettuce or two, in your flower borders, and ensure you regularly pick off the slimy critters.

Midnight slug hunt: Slugs are nocturnal so don your miners hat and a pair of scissors and search and destroy!
Attracting predators: Hedgehogs,frogs and toads, birds and black beetles will also control slug and snail numbers. One of the best ways of attracting these creatures into the garden is to build a pond.
Hedgehogs:- found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. There are no hedgehogs native to the Americas or Australia. Hedgehogs are a powerful form of pest control. A single hedgehog can keep an average garden free of pests by eating up to 200 grams of insects each night. Therefore, it is common throughout England to see people attempting to lure hedgehogs into their yards with treats and hedgehog-sized holes in their fences.It is illegal to own a hedgehog as a pet in some U.S. states and some Canadian municipalities, and breeding licenses are required. No such restrictions exist in Europe.The most Common North american insectivores are Moles and Shrews .Moles live out their lives in dark tunnels under the earth, coming to the surface, much to the annoyance of lawn connoisseurs, only occasionally. Shrews, like the Common Shrew (Sorex cinereus) , are the smallest mammals in North America. Although seen rarely shrews unlike moles are not soil burrowers; they prefer leaf litter and dense undergrowth. Despite their tiny size, both of these insectivores are active and voracious insect predators.
Homemade beer traps, for the easy collection of these Garden pests
The classic beer trap……

You will require.
1. A plastic two litre drinks bottle.
2. A sharp scissors.
3. A garden trowel.
4. Some beer.

If you wish to construct a beer trap carefully cut the bottom half off a 2 litre plastic bottle, about 6 inches will do. You can discard the top half, or reuse it as a Bottle cloche: Protect individual plants from slugs by cutting the bottom off a clear plastic bottle and placing over the plant..

Next create a jagged top to the remaining half of the bottle by cutting a series of 1 inch dips into it. Kind of a square battlement effect, similar to those found on top of castles

Using your trowel dig a 4 inch deep hole to place the trap into, somewhere quite close to the slug targeted plants

With the battlements above the ground, then back fill the soil around the sides to secure the trap .

Half fill the trap with beer and place a flat stone or piece of slate on top of the battlements to prevent dilution by rain.

Slugs and snails have poor vision but a very keen sense of smell, which will lure them into the inescapable trap

Dispose of the slugs and replace the beer weekly.

If you can’t spare the beer you may substitute cold coffee  it is just as attractive smelling to slugs and snails

You can also purchase ornamental slug and snail traps

Aphids are other common garden pests

Aphids are Soft bodied garden pests tiny insects that use their mouths to suck juice from plant leaves, buds and stem tips. They prefer new growth best, but can take over a whole rose bush or other favorite plant.
These legless sap-sucking garden pests live in colonies that multiply rapidly and love to feed on the stems of plants, especially roses. They are often farmed like cows by ants that milk them for their sweet secretions.The sticky fluid often known as honeydew plants become covered with this fluid and a sooty mold, a black fungus.appears commonly seen on peonies.
There are a couple of recommended ways to deal with an aphid infestation. You can simply wash them off the plant with a jet of water from a hose. Once they hit the ground, they are unable to climb back up.
Another solution is to combat these garden pests is to release beneficial insects such as lady bugs, which feed on aphids.
.In the home garden the gardener, can solve an aphid problem in a tree or rose bed by releasing a few hundred lady bugs. These can be bought from your local garden center. A bag of 500 ladybugs costs around $10
Check for these garden pests regularly and blast them off with your garden hose . For very heavy infestations, treat with insecticidal soap. or any soapy water my dad now that mum has a dish washer regularly saves his bath water to deal with these garden pests