Banishing Bugs in Your Garden

Not all bugs in your garden are bad. Some bugs should actually be welcomed. The good garden bugs are typically referred to as "beneficials". These bugs will feed on the "bad bugs" or the bugs that will eat your plants and cause damage to your garden. To know the difference between beneficial and harmful bugs will require some research. Once you learn, however, the difference between the bugs, you should plant your garden with the though in mind of attracting beneficial bugs. By working with nature, you can alleviate some of the stress and the need for pesticides by letting the beneficial bugs do the work for you.

Bad bugs cause damage and pose a threat to the beauty and health of your garden. Some of the most damaging bugs include aphids, slugs, snails, spider mites, mealy bugs, and cutworms. These bugs will eat the roots of your plants, or burrow holes into the plants leaves and can ruin rosebushes and other plants before you ever get to enjoy them. Encouraging the population of beneficial bugs is a great way to lower the damaging bugs. Keeping your soil enriched with organic materials such as compost is one way to encourage good bugs. Some of the most popular beneficial bugs include ladybugs, parasitic wasps and hover flies, lacewings, and ground beetles.

It is imperative that you first observe the activity that is taking place in your garden and remember that the best course of action is to encourage beneficial bugs. You may try removing some of the damaging bugs by hand, or you can try some other methods. Some natural or "non chemical" remedies include using diluted pepper and water and a mixture of dishwashing liquid and water for aphids are two examples of gentle deterrents. Birds, toads, and certain beetles can be encouraged to visit the garden as well. They will feed on many of the damaging bugs while encouraging the good bugs to stay.

Pesticides for bad bugs should be used with caution. Sometimes using a pesticide may backfire and attract more bugs to your garden in the end. If you use pesticides, you will kill both the harmful as well as the beneficial bugs. This can lead to more harmful bugs and reduce the number of beneficial bugs. It is more helpful to take advantage of natural remedies and encourage natural methods of pest control rather than using pesticides.