Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans. Evo Morales
Scientists estimate there are approximately 20,000 varieties of insects and 97-99 per cent of the insects are either harmless or beneficial. Some beneficial insects pollinate flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees; others help keep pests under control. Unfortunately, many pesticides and lawn chemicals kill all insects, seriously affecting the productivity of our gardens.
Pollinators in the urban garden include bees, hover flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, ants, midges, beetles and, believe it or not, mosquitoes.
Some beneficial insects prey on garden pests. Parasitic wasps lay eggs in or on aphids or caterpillars or their eggs; the larvae eat the host and the host eventually dies. Parasitic flies lay their eggs on the larvae of butterflies, moths, beetles, sawflies, and other insects, killing them. Lady beetles and lacewings eat aphids. Beetles eat insect eggs, larvae, adult mites, aphids, and other pests. The gnat and its larvae control spider mites.
Attract pollinators and beneficial insects to your garden by providing habitat for them. This includes some bare ground for underground bee tunnels, shrubs, a variety of herbs, and flowers so there are blooming flowers throughout the season. Attract butterflies with a variety of flowers: native flowers are best. Try Milkweed for monarch butterflies, black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, sunflower, aster, and others.
Attract birds, especially the insect-eating ones such as wrens or robins, by providing tree or bush cover, bird baths, and birdhouses. If you want birds, don’t kill the bugs.
Start your pest control by regularly inspecting your garden, catching infestations before they get out of control. Rotate your crops; pests tend to lay their eggs where they hatched. When host plants have moved, the egg-bearing offspring may not find them. Keep your garden free of weeds. Remove infected foliage quickly; do not compost it, place it in your landfill garbage. Healthy plants are more likely to resist garden pests. Hand picking larger bugs, such as Colorado potato bugs or lily beetles, is generally more effective than using a pesticide.
Row covers, cloths that let in 80 per cent of sunlight and rain, protect root vegetables such as turnips or radishes from root maggots, and prevent cabbage butterflies from laying their eggs.
Pick slugs at night or early morning and kill them with boiling water.
Fence off your garden to prevent rabbits or deer from snacking on your garden.
Don’t panic. You could lose up to 40 per cent of a plant’s foliage and not seriously reduce the amount of produce.
These defences minimize damage from garden pests, but in some cases, the pests gain control. Then use the following organic pesticides; they are safer and target specific pests.
- Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) kills many types of caterpillars, such as the cabbage worm, by producing crystals that paralyze the digestive tract.
- Neem Oil kills insects that eat plants. It may also stop fungi and mildew. For lily beetles, spray the ground as the plants start to emerge and spray every three days until there is no evidence of grubs, beetles, or holes in the leaves.
- Spinosad kills flea beetles found on potatoes and other plants. While safe for birds and many insects, it is highly toxic to bees. Do not apply it on blooming plants or where bees are actively foraging.
- Bordo is used as a fungicide to prevent infestations of downy mildew, powdery mildew and other fungi. Use it before the fungus is established.
- Use insecticidal soap on aphids, mites, and white flies. You may have to apply it every two or three days for two weeks for bad infestations.
- Pyrethrin is derived from the flowers of pyrethrum daisies. A heavy dose is needed for flies, mosquitoes, and aphids.
- Slug Be Gon is a bait that stops slugs from eating. What isn’t consumed degrades and becomes part of your garden soil. While Slug B Gon is effective, you will still have to hand-pick some slugs.
Please avoid harmful herbicides and pesticides on your lawn and garden; most commercial pesticides kill beneficial insects.
Charles has written a book based on his experiences — Urban Gardening, Planning to Preserving, available on Amazon.
