Controlling Pests in the Garden

Whether it is deer, groundhogs, squirrels or insects, controlling pests in the garden is my biggest challenge every year. I’ve found that there are a number of ways to control insects using organic methods but it’s difficult to completely eliminate some. But that’s OK it’s not necessary to completely eliminate bad insects to get a good harvest just control them. Larger pests such as deer and groundhog however need to be kept out or it can be nearly impossible to grow your own food.

When I first started my garden groundhogs were living under my shed and were a major problem. To stop them from getting under I dug a trench 6-12” deep around the whole shed and installed a treated fence from the base of the shed down into the trench. I bent the fence outward another 6-12” to ensure that even if a rodent tried to borrow under the fence they would encounter the portion bent outward and give up. I then back filled with stone. Take away the groundhog’s home and you eliminate a good portion of your problem.

Several years ago I installed a deer fence and rodent fence around my garden. The deer were not a problem in my neighborhood at first but became increasingly troublesome as more open space around me became developed. The deal breaker was when all my green tomatoes began disappearing from my plants one year. I purchased my fences online and had a landscaper help me install it. I recommend a rodent fence around the outside of the deer fence if you have groundhog problem like I did to prevent them from clawing through. As I did around my shed I buried the fence, bent it outward, and topped it with stone.

Insects come in all shapes and sizes but as many of you know some are good to have in your garden. There are a number of ways to attract the good guys. You can plant certain types of flowers and herbs throughout the garden, use leaf mulch for good ground insects and even apply microscopic beneficial nematodes to your soil in the spring.

I like planting dill throughout the garden to attract parasitic wasp which help control cabbage loppers (worms) that love eating your cole crops. They love the big flat flowers the dill form in late spring and early summer. The wasps lay their eggs in the cabbage worms and when they hatch they eat the worm.

If you look hard you can see the cabbage worm on my Kolrabi

And here is the dill around my plants but the flowers have not formed yet I don't really have a good picture to share share

Attracting certain birds is also helpful in controlling the cabbage worms and other bad insects. I have two wren houses in my garden and every year the wrens come to nest. Just make sure the hole is only one inch in diameter so you don’t get larger birds living there that may not be as helpful to your garden. Also using plexiglass around the entrance will prevent wood peckers from enlarging the hole. Make sure to remove the old nest every fall or they wrens won’t nest there the following year.

I will explore other good preventative techniques for controlling insects on specific plants in future posts but this should give you some ideas. I realize folks in all parts of the world may read this so you may have different pests to deal with but hopefully this post was at least somewhat helpful.