All too often, the first thing a person thinks of when wanting to control weeds and pests in the garden is to reach for a chemical solution. Insecticides for the bugs and chemical weed killers for the “weeds”. I would like to urge you to try some alternatives. Gardening in its very nature is to offer some sort of “control” as to what grows and inhabits our outdoor living areas. Despite our best efforts, this is not always possible. There are some things you should keep in mind though.

If you allow the aphids to infest your rose for a little while, soon the lady birds, lacewings and praying mantis will come along and get rid of them. However if you go out and spray that rose with an insecticide you will stop nature in its tracks. Yes, you will get rid of the aphids but you will also get rid of any beneficial insects that happen to be around as well. While this offers a short term solution to the problem, you could end up doing more harm than good.

When I first started gardening, I was horrified by the amount of pests that were out there eager to destroy everything I worked so hard to create. Slugs where reducing plants to stems, roses were becoming deformed because of the aphid damage, caterpillars were turning the beautiful foliage into a patchwork of holes. The first thought I had was this has to stop! I went to the gardening center and purchased insecticides, slug pellets and anything else that looked “good” to rid my garden of all the evil little uninvited guests. I sprayed the sprays and spread the pellets and yes, the pests disappeared after a short time. Then I noticed something. There were no butterflies, not so many birds, no lady birds and very few bees. That was not the worst of it. When removing some garden debris, I found a dead bird. It had eaten one of the slugs that I poisoned. I killed it. That was the very last day I used any sort of chemical in my garden. I sought out alternatives.

I purchased some lady bird houses which came with attractant along with some slug traps. I was ridding pests the natural way. —No chemicals— Soon the pests came back again but then so did the predators to kill the pests. I was trapping slugs and snails in my traps by the dozens, aphids were disappearing as lady birds and lacewings colonized to stop the little monsters in their tracks, birds were reappearing as were the bees. Let me assure you there are few greater pleasures in a gardener’s life than when they can sit back in their favorite chair and bear witness to all the life that can inhabit a garden — spider silk blowing in the wind, birds by the dozens, bees pollinating, flies darting, lady birds landing on your knee and the list goes on. When we garden we should perhaps look beyond the plants and flowers and truly breed life in every form.

I would like to ask that if you are opting for chemical solutions that you reconsider and try alternatives. I think you will be happier with the result.

To get started, I ask that you please consider visiting the Planet Natural site and Facebook page. This company is an absolutely wonderful resource when it comes to gardening naturally. Please note, I am not affiliated with them in any way and received no compensation to recommend them; I am just a customer who buys their products and can say without reservation the products work.

Image Credit:
The image is from Wikimedia Commons. Here is a link to the photographer.