Garden Pests – Tips on Keeping Them Out of Your Home and Garden!
Pests come in all shapes and sizes, some of them are cute some are creepy crawlers. Its really best to prevent them from invading your space rather than eliminating them, as each species is necessary in the ecosystem. Do some research. Find out what the animal or insect dislikes the most and use it as a natural deterrent.
Slugs
Slugs and Snails: Snails are attracted to good old beer, just pour some in a dish set outside and they will drown in it.
Try putting dog hair around your plants if they are bothered by slugs.
To keep slugs out of your garden. Roll out a band of copper wire along the perimeter of your garden. Their slimy bodies get a small electrical charge if they try to cross–so they don’t!
Ants
Ants in the kitchen: To prevent ant from returning, place a few pieces of mint gum around point of infestation. They can’t stand the mint!
-Ordinary table salt sprinkled around most frequented areas acts as a good deterrent.
– ground cinnamon is a good non toxic ant deterrent.
-an equal mixture of baking soda and sugar sprinkled in the frequented areas will kill the ants.
-borax and sugar mixed in equal parts will kill the ants. *Caution keep away from children and pets.
To keep ants off your bigger flowers and shrub put tape around the trunk, sticky side out.
Rabbits
Hot Tabasco sauce on plants will keep rabbits out of the garden.
Human hair will keep rabbits out of your garden!! Collect hair from your brushes and spread it around your garden!
Mosquito
Mosquito Remedy! Mix oil of citronella with Vaseline and apply to exposed areas.
Japanese Beetles
When Japanese beetles invade your garden, you can fight back with homemade traps. Use a plastic gallon jug with the top portion cut off as a container and fill it with the following bait: 2 cups of water, 1 mashed banana, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup wine, 1/4 tsp. baking yeast. Allow this mixture to ferment in a warm place and them put it in the garden. Beetles will find it irresistible.
General Insect Repellents
Spray plants with a solution of dish-washing soap and water to keep bugs off them. It is best to spray at night or early morning.
Insect repellent – Make a solution of mint oil and rubbing alcohol, place in a spray bottle and spray yourself before any outings, the mint acts as a natural deterrent for most insects.
Fleas indoors: Sprinkle Household Borax on your carpet and let sit for awhile. Vacuum up.
Insect and Roach Exterminator! Mix the following: Borax, one pound; powdered sugar, 60 oz.; add one oz. cocoa powder and two oz. sodium fluoride. Mix well and sprinkle around places pests are known to frequent. Keep out of reach of children!
The Author:
© Copyright 2002 Arzeena Hamir
Arzeena Hamir is an agronomist and President of Terra Viva Organics. Grow a healthy, pesticide-free garden for you and your family.
How to Keep Mice and Squirrels Away from Fall Flower Bulbs
You will need about 1/4 cup Tabasco sauce, a few good squirts of any type of dishwashing liquid. 1 cup of water, and 1 full spoonful of chili powder. Mix it together then spray directly into the soil around the bulbs. Respray in the spring. It will keep the mice and squirrels away from those precious flower bulbs.
Great tip for keeping mice and squirrels away from flower bulbs! I never would have thought to use Tabasco sauce and chili powder in the mixture. I’ll definitely give this a try in my garden to protect my bulbs next fall.
My young son and I discovered that ants do not like to cross chalk lines. To deter ants from entering our apartment building we drew a 1″ thick chalk barrier across the patio. Also, we thought maybe the reason ants didn’t like crossing chalk was that it was “sharp” totheir tiny bodies—it is just ground up minerals.
We thought talc might have the same effect. We tried baby powder. The ants never came back. May have been a combination of the talc and the fragrance may have disguised their trail/food source.
That’s a fascinating discovery about ants and chalk lines! I’ve heard of using cinnamon and vinegar to repel ants, but never thought about using talc or baby powder. I’ll have to experiment with this method to see if it works for me. Thanks for sharing!