Keep Your Organic Veggie Garden Safe From Pests With These Easy Natural Tips

All gardeners know that keeping pests out of the garden is a never-ending battle. All manner of bugs and varmints seem to be lurking about waiting to enjoy the fruits of your hard labor. In this article, I discuss a number of ways to deal with the most common garden pests so the you can justly reap what you sow. Read on to learn how to keep pests out of your garden naturally.

Box Turtles and Toads Help With Grub Worms and Beetle Bugs

When you are preparing the soil for your garden, get rid of the grub worms in the soil. These little critters live under the ground and eat roots until they mature and emerge as beetles and eat leaves! You could go the poison route, but remember that poison will be in the soil where you plant your vegetables, and it will make its way up into the plants through the water, not to mention leaching into the water table and damaging drinking water. Instead, simply pick out all the grubs you see and turn some food grade diatomaceous earth into soil as you till. This will help eliminate grubs. Attracting box turtles to your garden will also help with grub worms and beetles. Toads in the garden also eat beetle bugs.

Beer and Beneficial Critters Help Control Pests In The Garden

Garden slugs and snails are a favorite food of box turtles! You can also put a thin line of salt around the perimeter of your garden to prevent slugs and snails from being able to get in. You can also put out shallow plates of beer for slugs and snails. They will enter the plate to drink the beer and be unable to get back out. If you have box turtles and toads in your garden, put a wire mesh cover over your dishes that will both allow slugs and snails in and keep toads and box turtles out.

Remember that birds are beneficial to the garden in that they often eat undesirable insects. Be sure to set up a feeding and watering/bathing station for the birds somewhere near or in your garden. Place bird netting over plants with fruit to prevent birds from eating your tomatoes, berries and whatnot. Think about planting berry producing trees such as mulberry near your birdbath and bird feeding area to provide natural food for your bird population.

Dealing With Larger Vegetable Garden Pests

Keep deer, dogs and other large critters out of your garden with a good, solid garden fence. You’ll find lots of good ideas for garden fences at your local home improvement store. Of course, budget may dictate that you search online and newspaper classifieds for bargains. No matter what you decide to do, be sure to install a fence that is strong enough to keep big critters out and performs as you want it to in regards to your beneficial critters.

Think about how large you want the mesh on the lower portion of your fence to be. It should either be big enough to allow box turtles and toads to come and go or small enough to keep them in the garden. If you choose the latter, then you will have to procure them somehow. Box turtles can often be found through a turtle rescue. Providing a box turtle habitat in an organic garden is simple. They just need places to hide, a good water dish for drinking and bathing and fruit and veggie scraps, bugs and other pests to eat. Toads need a little pond or stream so that they can lay eggs that will hatch into tadpoles, so unless you have a large garden that includes a pond, don’t plan on setting up toad habitat.

If you have a raccoon and possum problem, you may need to set out live traps to catch them and relocate them to another area. Be sure to take them far away (especially raccoons) or they will just come right back. Be very careful when dealing with these animals. Wear heavy gloves, throw a heavy blanket over the cage before attempting to move it, and be ready to spring the door and leap back into your car when releasing a raccoon! If you feel the least bit timid about doing this, call in a professional.

Natural Bug Repellent Plants and Beneficial Insects

You can also plant a variety of plants that will keep bugs away. Marigold flower seed scattered throughout your garden will grow into a natural, merry bug deterrent, yet it will attract beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. Other beneficial insects like praying mantis and lady bugs can be ordered from organic gardening catalogs. Lady bugs are very good at dealing with aphids and praying mantises will eat just about any garden pest they can catch, and that includes most of them. If you do not yet have ladybugs, you can also simply blast aphids off plants with a strong spray of water. After several days of this treatment, they will be too discouraged (or too drowned) to return.

Organic Gardening Techniques Pay Off!

Dealing with garden pests organically may take a bit more creativity than tossing poison all over the place, but it results in healthier food for you and your family and a healthier relationship with the environment. When you follow the tips presented here, you are taking proactive steps to be a responsible citizen of the planet and grow great veggies simultaneously.

Copyright:SuzanneBennett:January 10 2013