Green Thumbs: How to respond to pests in the garden

There are so many things that can go wrong with your garden, it’s amazing anyone even tries to grow ornamental or edible plants. Take a look at the Garden Pest and Disease Library published by the Old Farmer’s Almanac for a discouraging sampling.

And the Almanac doesn’t even mention chipmunks! Chipmunks are a big problem when it comes to growing strawberries and tomatoes! But don’t get me started on groundhogs/woodchucks/whatever you want to call them…grrrr!

Anyway…

Back to pests in general. There is much information and many suggestions on hundreds of different websites about how to deter various pests and many suggested substances and products designed to that end. A Google search will yield plentiful results but let me give you a couple of practical pointers.

First piece of advice is to do your homework and avoid purchasing and applying hazardous pesticides and herbicides. An incomplete list would include herbicides with active ingredients glyphosate, dicamba, or 2,4-D; insecticides that include chloropyrifos or that fall into the neonicotinoid or pyrethroid families; or metaldehyde for slugs and snails – highly toxic to pets and aquatic life.

Instead, try to use natural solutions or products guaranteed to be safe for pollinators, the environment, and human health. Least toxic purchased products include diatomaceous earth, neem oil, insecticidal soap, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

And remember that natural predators such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps are your friends.

If you want to make your own pest deterrent, try infusing water with strong-smelling components like garlic, mint, or lavender, and/or nasal irritants like red pepper, and add a little liquid dish soap to help your solution adhere. In the labor-saving department, it really helps if you add something so the effectiveness persists for at least a few weeks or longer, and doesn’t wash off the first time it rains. You want something that sticks otherwise, you will have to reapply frequently, which can be a tedious and time- consuming chore.

In the purchased pest-deterrent category, I have found the deer repellent Deer Out, a minty spray (with overtones of rotten eggs) and the granular or spray-on product Plantskydd, for deer and rabbits, made with dried blood, to be effective and long-lasting.

Second piece of advice is to be vigilant and if you notice a possible problem, don’t take a wait-and-see approach – investigate and act with alacrity! If you see one asparagus beetle, don’t wait to see if there are more the next day – knock it into a little jar of soapy water or rubbing alcohol tout de suite and do that every time you spot one.

But enough with the gloom and doom. Spring is here! And despite the many setbacks and pitfalls, we go outside to cultivate and plant and we are happy doing it. It’s good for our souls and assuming we are planting “the right kind of plants” (nothing invasive or allelopathic, and mostly natives), gardening is rewarding and beneficial for “everything that is natural that is infinite that is yes.” (e.e. cummings)

Robin Reisman is a long-time member of the Conservation Committee of the Weston Garden Club.