Pest-Free without Pesticides
By Jan Bowers, naturopathic practitioner
This article was first published in the May 2009 issue of Fusion.
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This month my inbox has been flooded with emails from frustrated gardeners everywhere who want to grow beautiful flowers, vegetables, and herbs without synthetic products. Like me, however, the frustration is nearly enough to make us all want to go out and hire a crop duster ourselves. Luckily, with a few tips and natural tools, we can all get the garden we want without pesticides.
Try the following to keep pests out of your garden:
- Mind your garbage—mosquitoes, gnats, roaches, aphids, beetles, and slugs are all drawn to trash and compost piles. Place garbage cans and compost on cement pads, or up on bricks or tiles if you do not have a cement area. Be sure to seal garbage well, then place promptly in a secure garbage can outside. If your kitchen overlooks your garden, remember that the food scraps from your dishes and disposals can also attract bugs on hot days.
- If you feed pets outdoors, raise their food up off the ground by placing on boxes, bricks, or some other raised platform, and remove it every night.
¨ Remove standing water, where mosquitoes lay their eggs. Pay particular attention to water pooling in trash cans, children’s wading pools, animal dishes, unused pots, and similar.
¨ Add a drop or two of Purification (an essential oil blend that contains citronella, lemongrass, lavandin, rosemary, and melaleuca) to the soil near the roots during planting to prevent infestations from juvenile insects.
¨ Sprinkle peppermint oil around baseboards and doorways to keep ants out.
To get rid of pests that have already infiltrated your garden, try:
¨ Keep infested plants together, and isolate them from plants that are pest-free.
¨ Hand-picking leaf bugs, beetles, and slugs, or burning them with a lighter. Though time-consuming at first, this practice yields immediate results and does discourage future populations.
¨ Plant citronella, or spray the area around walkways and flower beds with citronella essential oil.
¨ Spray or apply eucalyptus oil around your yard or to yourself to ward off mosquitoes. If you are grilling outdoors, toss a bit of rosemary or sage on the grill to discourage bugs of all kinds.
¨ Spray plants with a mixture of 3-4 tablespoons of V6 Mixing Oil and 15 drops each of lemon and Purification. Spray on nearby plants to ensure that infestations do not spread. Repeat as needed.
¨ To get rid of snails and slugs, place a tray of beer in areas where they are abundant. Place tray as flush to the ground as possible.
¨ Ladybugs eat aphids. Encourage them to take up residence in your garden by planting parsley, fennel, spearmint, or caraway.
¨ Basil, bergamot, cedarwood, peppermint, and Purification are all effective insect repellents. They can be mixed with V6 and sprayed on plants, walkways, around doorways, or layered directly on the skin to keep insects at bay.
¨ In addition to the above, Idaho Tansy has proven particularly useful as a fly and mosquito repellent on horses and other animals.
Catnip is a natural roach deterrent. Include catnip around your garden, or place small satchels around your space. If you do choose to plant catnip, remember that this is one very aggressive plant! Contain the root system to prevent it from completely taking over your space.
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Also in the May 2009 issue of Fusion:
Making the Move to Natural Skin Care
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